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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25268404">Washed Ashore: Pokémon are Real</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari'>Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pokemon Are Real [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Contest Entry, Dysfunctional Relationships, Friendship, Gen, Isekai, Land Ho, Open Novella 2020 Contest, Open Novella Contest, Pokemon Are Real, Slice of Life, Students, Teacher-Student Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:42:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,057</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25268404</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A extra curricular trip for a posh school leads to five girls ending up in a very unexpected situation, let alone making unexpected discoveries. There is more to the eye regarding the world around them, but also each other, something they as well as their teacher will end up discovering.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pokemon Are Real [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>(General) Open Novella 2020, Focus on Female Characters, Platonic Relationships</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Entitled</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24913018">Washed Ashore: Pokémon Are Real (Original Version)</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari">Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer - I don't own Pokémon. This was one of nine stories written for ONC 2020, but this one made it through the second round. The prompt I picked was number thirty-seven, "eight days after the storm, they sighted land. Unidentifiable land." More specifically, I felt this was a great opportunity to do the rewrite of an older story from December of 2008 that never got past the 3k mark.</p><p>My writing's definitely improved since then, but the OCs are more fleshed out in my mind - including shockingly enough the teacher. I'm touching upon certain issues to some degree as well, such as how girls aren't encoraged in STEM skills among other things. Each of the girls has an issue, names are changed, the TCG specialist - a sixth character, ended up cut.</p><p>There are also changes from the original plans, such as doing this as a Novella series which is easier to read than a longer story which may go on for who knows ho many chapters, given we're talking a very long Pokemon journey. The first Novella is about how the OCs end up in the world of Pokemon, but the story starts during the summer break of 2000 right before the Gold and Silver games would have been released, yet the actual scheduled release of games may end up changing based on the story events, but the games released so far are Red/Blue/Yellow and the Anime is up to episode 104 in America, not including episodes 18, 35 and episode 38.</p><p>The fact this occurs in an English speaking version of the world with the English names instead of a Japanese speaking version of the world with the Japanese names will be explained in second Novella</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The students of Gladstone Academy were spoiled.</p><p><em>That</em> particular thought crossed Cecily Atwood's mind as she looked up at the large white ship the students would use for their extracurricular summer trip. The children who attended the academy received educational privileges many parents would kill for, albeit metaphorically. True, girls needed exposure to the sciences; such exposure shouldn't be limited to the few who managed to get into the school.</p><p>A sigh escaped Cecily's lips. She found herself in charge of the extracurricular excursion because she was the new teacher, not to mention the youngest, having fast-tracked her own education during her own high school years, making her current thoughts a tad hypocritical. She'd simply not thought of the matter much until she found herself teaching at the academy.</p><p>Pulling her sparse luggage over her shoulder, she boarded the boat hoping the trip wouldn't make her head hurt from dealing with the students heading into the fifth grade after summers end. The captain of the boat and one of the two scientists who would be teaching the girls about marine biology greeted her; she responded nervously before turning her attention towards watching for the girls' approach.</p><p>Another sigh escaped her lips upon seeing the girl approach. The clothes Amy Walton wore were inappropriate for the messy tasks the marine biologists might make the girls partake in; specifically, the tasks would likely ruin the clothes if the girl spilled anything on them, yet Cecily wasn't surprised given the fact she knew Amy was of one of the prestigious families at Gladstone.</p><p>Next to arrive was Heather Montgomery. The girl looked her teacher right in the eye, frowning as she did so. "Just to let you know, the only reason I'm here on this trip is because I got in trouble. Big trouble."</p><p>"<em>I don't want to know how many times I'm going to sigh before today is over, let alone the girls get here.</em>" She watched Heather walk over to the side rather than going below deck to stow her luggage and begin playing a video game. Cecily decided she'd best keep her sighs in check and act like a teacher who was in charge. Stepping over, she tapped on Heather's shoulder. "You do know that you're not here to play video games."</p><p>She expected Heather to roll her eyes or throw a tantrum. Instead, she got a sigh. "I know. I'll put it away when things get started. I don't like doing nothing."</p><p>"I'll hold you to that." Despite wanting the girls to know she was in charge, she also didn't want to be the teacher who made learning a miserable task. "<em>Watch. They'll walk all over you, and you'll regret giving a little leeway.</em>"</p><p>"Where's my room." The bubble Felicity Rhodes blew from her mouth snapped in a rather annoying manner.</p><p>"Please spit the gum out."</p><p>"Really? You're going to be that kind of teacher."</p><p>"I doubt the marine biologists would appreciate your bubble gum contaminating their work." This time she received an eye roll. She ignored the eye role and focused on showing Felicity her room. She found Amy roving the halls, yet the girl seemed a bit dazed. More importantly, she hoped Amy wouldn't live up to the dumb blond stereotype which in turn made Cecily chide herself for not giving the girl a chance.</p><p>Upon arriving on deck again, she found Chelsey Bianchi arguing with Heather regarding the games – something about cheating, trading and being one to talk. More specifically, Chelsey accused Heather of <em>being</em> one to talk when Heather refused to trade Pokémon – whatever that was – because Chelsey cheated at the game. Without realizing it, Cecily let out a sigh, something she wished she'd not done despite the two girls not noticing. "Please don't make me confiscate your game systems."</p><p>Her eyes caught sight of Natalie Long approaching the boat. The girl's dark eyes blinked. "I'm the last one?"</p><p>"Yes. We'll be able to leave." Cecily nodded her head at Mr. Long. "We'll be sure to take care of your daughter."</p><p>"I am hoping our Natalie will prove the most successful with the activities you give the students."</p><p>"This isn't a competition."</p><p>"I still expect her to excel and do the best."</p><p>Natalie nodded her head, yet something made Cecily doubt the girl's confidence. When her father left, and the boat was underway, she asked. "Is there a reason you think you won't do well?"</p><p>"Of course I'll do well!" Natalie nearly choked on her own words. "I checked, double-checked, even triple checked my luggage. It's not as if my careful plans have already gone awry by not arriving first."</p><p>Cecily let out a sigh, hoping said sigh would be the last, yet she knew the trip wouldn't be easy. In fact, there was an inkling in the back of her head that she might fail miserably, not to mention have a major headache when everything was said and done.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Focusing on how lousy she was a teacher would only lead to her actually being a lousy teacher. As such, Cecily pushed aside the fact she showed her frustrations in front of her students and put on another face, mentally telling herself each could succeed. Despite this, in the back of her mind, she still couldn't shake the feeling something would most definitely go wrong. She led Natalie down below to the room she would share with Felicity.</p><p>When the two arrived, they found Amy in the room with Felicity. Letting out a sigh, Cecily said, "Amy. I need you to go to your own room to get ready as the boat has set out and we will soon be participating in activities set up for us. Felicity and Natalie also need some time to get used to being roommates with each other."</p><p>Amy let out a sigh, yet easily complied with what Cecily wanted. A sigh escaped her mouth, one of relief; perhaps things might actually go well with the students. Said thought disappeared when Felicity rolled her eyes and headed after Amy. A frown crept across Cecily's face. While she didn't need to be down on her students, she already had one student who apparently cheated at something and another who apparently was taking the attitude of a bully towards the geekier student.</p><p>She didn't have to put up with this but decided to follow after Felicity.</p><p>She watched Felicity enter Amy's room without knocking, leaving the door open. Amy clutched a stuffed toy to her chest – a yellow bunny with red cheeks and brown tipped ears. She heard Felicity squeal in delight at the sight of the creature. "So, you're into Pokémon as well? I love Pokémon."</p><p>"Aren't you supposed to be bonding with Natalie?"</p><p>"Who cares about that nerd."</p><p>Cecily read the level of discomfort on Amy's face, let alone the fact the girl – who received a room of her own due to how rich her parents were – wanted a roommate to bond with. She didn't say anything, remaining timid in demeanor. Cecily stepped forward, deciding to act like a teacher even though she knew Felicity wouldn't like it. "We don't speak about our fellow classmates like that. Even if you don't want to bond with Natalie, you need to be getting ready for activities on deck."</p><p>Felicity took a deep breath, her facial features twisting in anger. She stuck her nose in the air and walked off. A sigh escaped Cecily's mouth. "I'm doing too much of that."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Cecily's attention turned towards Amy. "Sighing when you students frustrate me. I shouldn't do that because it will be discouraging, and I'm supposed to be encouraging you, students. Speaking of which..." Amy's timid demeanor was definitely not expected. "Just because you're not rooming with anyone else doesn't mean you can't make friends with others. I also think you may be in a position to check Felicity's attitude towards the other girls as it does seem she wants your attention."</p><p>"Sensei?" Amy's blue eyes filled with obvious admiration.</p><p>"Sensei? I don't know that word."</p><p>Amy's mouth pushed together, her eyes darting aside. "Sorry. The reason I came on this trip is that I wanted to make friends. Real friends, not girls like Felicity who only care about my parent's wealth and such. I also want to be more confident in myself."</p><p>"Well, I think those are good goals to have." Cecily glanced at the yellow creature in Amy's hands. "So, I know that toy likely brings you comfort, but you also don't want to lose it overboard, so leave it safe and sound in your room, okay?"</p><p>"Okay sensei."</p><p>Cecily still didn't know <em>what</em> the word sensei meant, yet headed towards the deck, letting out another sigh of relief. Sighing – it was definitely becoming a habit she would need to break, regardless of whether it was for a negative of positive reason. Things also were looking up, but she arrived on deck with the sun shining in her face, not a cloud in sight, nothing hinting at any kind of disaster to come.</p><p>Well, except for the fact she did get into a slight argument with Chelsey regarding wearing a lifejacket, which was far from pleasant.</p><p>One drop of rain, however, said something wasn't quite right, yet her eyes darted up looking at the bright sunlight which shown down. She brushed away the sensation of a raindrop on her forehead as nothing significant, let alone the few drops which followed. However, the sunlight didn't last long and the sky darkened as the clouds blew in. With the clouds came the increased rocking of the boat, making Cecily realize things weren't going well.</p><p>She did find herself glad Chelsey was wearing a lifejacket, as were the other girls. The marine biologists running the extracurricular trip started giving instructions – the indication that they were starting back to shore when the boat lurched suddenly to one side. Cecily found herself knocked off her feet, sliding slightly while one or two of the girls let out a scream. She wasn't sure, though, which ones screamed, her eyes instead glued upon the black sky and the rain pouring down.</p><p>A flash of lightning lit up the boat as it shifted in another direction, just as a wave started crashing down. "Girls! Hold onto something!"</p><p>The wave crashed down, soaking her to the bone, her breath-holding fast while the salt stung her eyes and nostrils. When her vision cleared, lightning flashed again, revealing two of the five girls were missing, almost as if the wave washed them overboard. Cecily let out a strangled sound as she tried calling out for Chelsey and Natalie, only to freeze when someone unexpected loomed out of the water, making her eyes widen.</p><p>The sea creature – for it was definitely a monster she thought once debunked – loomed almost two stories tall. The blue scales of the sea dragon mingles with white, but the red eyes glared down at her while the mouth opened wide, almost as if threatening to swallow her or one of the other girls up.</p><p>Cecily wanted to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Nessie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hello, Natalie. You're actually the last to arrive."</p><p>A frown crossed Natalie's face. Part of her checklist was arriving before everyone else, yet already something didn't go according to plan, making her question her task of checking, double-checking, and triple-checking everything, yet not in the actual direction her mind should go. Her eyes darted towards the wooden pier while she shuffled from one foot to another, quite disappointed in herself.</p><p>"I'm the last one?"</p><p>The fact she was last – she felt the trip was already a disaster, not realizing what she thought of a disaster really wasn't. She reluctantly fell into step regarding the process, not thinking much about the activities she'd looked forward to, given that she – for as far back as she could remember, planning on going into one of the science fields. She wasn't an amazing genius like her classmates' thought but worked hard at her studies, just like her parents wanted.</p><p>Then the rain came, a few drops at first, then the storm surged up unexpectedly.</p><p>She found herself soaked to the bone, shivering as the rain poured down and the sky turned darkened. The way the boat swayed upset her stomach, yet the deck became slippery. She didn't know if they'd make it out of the storm alive, her fear increasing with each strike of lightning which rained down upon, but soon a large wave started crashing down on her and everyone else up on deck.</p><p>When it hit, she felt water, salty water, rush around her, stinging her eyes and nose, yet felt herself swept off her feet. Her small body tumbled and twisted. For a brief moment, she surfaced, gasping for air, the realization hitting her – she'd been swept into the water. When she opened her eyes, she didn't like how they stung, so she closed them and didn't see the next wave coming.</p><p>Swimming wasn't one of her strong points, yet the lifejacket helped bring her back to the surface, spluttering as she did so. Her fingers reached out for something, anything which might help her keep afloat better, her mind wondering what her parents would do if she were to die, yet she honestly didn't know how they would react beyond being disappointed she'd not become what they'd expected of her.</p><p>That thought came just as her hand brushed against something hard, her hand wrapping around a projection from the hard surface she could latch onto. She soon felt herself pushed up out of the water. At first, she didn't open her eyes, but then when she finally did she found herself rather taken aback by what she saw. Not only was light starting to peek out past the clouds despite the fact it was still raining; a creature she'd never seen in any of her biology books was also underneath her.</p><p>At least, she was quite sure they weren't anywhere near Ireland and the Lock Ness where the Loch Ness monster was. This <em>Nessie</em> had a rather hard shell, grey, with rounded spikes protruding from the shell which reminded her of the shell of the <em>Arcinella arcinella</em>, or the jewel box clam. She was sure depictions of the Loch Ness monster – which she was sure was a mythical beast – were always a creature with green skin, but this one had a vivid blue skin with a pale cream underbelly.</p><p>In fact, this Nessie seemed like a mix between a sea turtle and an orca whale, if that was even possible. Natalie's breath sucked in, her discovery briefly distracting her from the trouble she was in. However... <br/>"<em>What use is a discovery if you can share it?</em>"</p><p>Her eyes turned skyward, the rain slowed then stopped and the sun came out. The creature kept swimming in what seemed like no particular direction while Natalie continued to hold onto the shell. A voice of someone moaning drew both of their attention. Her Nessie started swimming towards the sound, which in turn led to the discovery of another student from the boat.</p><p>She didn't remember the girl's name. She didn't remember <em>any</em> of the girls' names. Socializing wasn't her thing, yet she'd found herself a bit disappointed upon learning her fellow shipmates for the school trip weren't interested in academics, yet the one girl she recognized proved it so. After all, why would the rich, spoiled daughter of one of the school board members be on this trip if it weren't some kind of vacation for herself?</p><p>The person let out another moan. Natalie knew it wasn't the very rich girl, but Nessie seemed inclined to rescue the girl, not to mention rescuing was the right thing to do. She leaned over, noticing the girl clutched one of the boxes of equipment that was out on the deck and was using it to float, yet her eyes were clouded over, almost as if she were dazed by something. Reaching for the girl, Natalie tugged on her, finding it a rather difficult task for someone not at all athletic.</p><p>Somehow, she managed to do it – drag the girl onto Nessie's back. The girl's eyes remained slightly open for a few minutes, her breath coming in a ragged manner before she lost consciousness, almost as if she were holding onto what little consciousness she did have so she wouldn't drown – after all, a lifejacket couldn't help a person if they were unconscious, face down in the water. Natalie frowned, then said what she felt.</p><p>"I don't know what to do."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Below Deck</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cecily remained frozen; a scream stuck in her throat as the sea dragon flew over her head into the water on the other side of the boat. Her dark eyes blinked, her mind not quite registering what she saw. Her mouth hung open, the fear still wracking her brain which wondered if she was mistaken regarding what she saw. Her attention turned to the three girls remaining on board. "Down below girls! Now!"</p><p>Somehow, she managed to reach one of the girls and begin tugging her over while some of the other adults helped the others. The door closed behind them while the ship continued tossing and turning in the storm, but not before one of the scientists said, "we'll let you know when it's safe to come out."</p><p>"Come on, come on. Let's get changed into dry clothing."</p><p>"Why?" Felicity sucked in her breath, her eyes wide, much as Cecily imagined the eyes of a dear stuck in the headlights would be. "What if the boat springs a leak. We'll get wet again, right? We'll get wet, and – we'll get wet."</p><p>"If we stay in these clothes..." The lights above flickered, making Cecily stop speaking. She started again. "If you girls stay in those wet clothes, you'll get sick. You need to warm up."</p><p>"But..."</p><p>"I'll check the rooms for leaks, one by one." She let out a sigh, this time not out of frustration at her students, but at the lot thrown at all of them. "We'll get through all of this."</p><p>"But that nerdy Natalie and that tomboy Chelsey..."</p><p>"Hey! What's wrong with being a tomboy?" Heather's voice rose slightly, taking obvious offense at what Felicity said."</p><p>"I didn't..."</p><p>"It was your tone."</p><p>"Please!" Amy turned, her voice quieter than the others, her eyes revealing she didn't like the conflict going on.</p><p>"She's right. None of this now. And none of this labeling the others. There's still a chance that Natalie and Chelsey are still alive."</p><p>"Yeah..." Heather stopped short, obviously in a rather dark place, yet Cecily couldn't blame her. One by one, she took the girls through their rooms looking for leaks, finding none, then showed them where her quarters were.</p><p>"When you girls are done getting changed – and do it quickly, come here. This way none of you are alone. Got it?"</p><p>The girls gave some form of response ranging from verbal to nods, yet none seemed overly enthusiastic. Cecily changed herself, hanging some of her clothes over the foot of the bed, her soaking wet shoes on the floor. She opened the door to her room before sitting on the edge of the bed. The first to arrive was Amy, along with her yellow rabbit. For a few minutes, neither said anything and then Amy said," That was a Gyrados."</p><p>"What?" Cecily's dark eyes blinked. "What are..."</p><p>"The sea dragon. It's called a Gyrados."</p><p>Cecily sucked in her breath, realization hitting her she wasn't the only one to see the creature. Her eyes closed, remembering the blue scales, the red eyes, and gaping mouth. This so-called Gyarados was huge. "What – what is a Gyrados? How do you know..."</p><p>"It's a Pokémon. Pikachu's a Pokémon as well."</p><p>Cecily opened her eyes, seeing Amy looking at her quite passionately. "A Pikachu?"</p><p>Amy held out her yellow rabbit. "It looks like this and has electric abilities because it is an Electric-type."</p><p>"Amy, I'm really not following."</p><p>"It's a television show."</p><p>"You do realize not everything on television is real?"</p><p>"I know. But that thing definitely looked like a Gyrados. I know it's not supposed to exist, but I know I did see it. I mean..." Amy paused. "You didn't see it?"</p><p>"I know I saw something." Cecily didn't want to lie to one of her students, although she didn't want to feed any possible delusions. She'd not heard Amy speak so enthusiastically, her voice normally so quiet. She thought for a bit. "Since I don't know what a Gyrados looks like, I'll say it looked like a sea serpent, kind of like one of those dragons from Asia."</p><p>"And it was blue?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"That's what a Gyrados looks like."</p><p>"Well, I'm also sure that whoever came up with that show you watch is also aware of mythology and probably drew on mythology from Asian cultures." Cecily heard footsteps, indicating one or both of the other girls were approaching. "<em>What am I saying? Suggesting that a mythological creature actually exists is just as bad.</em>"</p><p>"I brought my makeup kit."</p><p>"I am <em>not</em> participating." Heather rolled her eyes at Felicity's suggestion.</p><p>"Well, maybe we can talk about something." The looks on the girls' faces said they were less enthusiastic. Worse, the lights went out while the ship continued rocking back and forth, but one of the girls screamed.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Cloudless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Somehow, they made it through the night.</p><p>The thought didn't really sink in until Cecily stepped on deck, the bright sunlight from the rising sun making her eyes blink. To say the situation was harrowing was likely an understatement, yet in the back of her mind, she knew it wasn't over – not by a long shot.</p><p>The lights going off did nothing towards relieving the tension as she wanted, yet every time she tried starting up a conversation or some form of distraction the conversation came back to the two missing girls. Worse, it started setting in that she might find herself needing to explain what happened to two sets of parents, which in turn didn't sit well in her stomach. This, in turn, made her wonder how she could put on a brave face for the girls, given the fact she'd ultimately failed as their teacher, beyond reminding them to put their lifejackets back on before going on deck.</p><p>The sunlight –</p><p>One of the scientists, the marine biologists came to retrieve them when the storm finally ended, yet the rather glum look on their face told her their situation was only somewhat improved. Said thought weighed heavily on her as she took the lead, the three girls following her; she was so sure the three couldn't possibly trust her, given the fact she'd done nothing to avail her fears, yet –</p><p>The sunlight chased the gloomy mood away, but she found herself turning towards the three girls. "We'll make it through this."</p><p>"They said our motor is stalled out, so we can't go anywhere and need to wait for someone to rescue us."</p><p>"<em>Why does Felicity feel the need to ruin the mood I'm trying to set.</em>" Cecily continued smiley, attempting to bolster the spirits of the girls.</p><p>"We'll make it through this!" Amy parroted, her small hands clenching, holding her Pikachu toy slightly tighter. Felicity turned her head, glaring at Amy while crossing her arms. Heather, on the other hand simply gave the other girl an exasperated look, before turning towards their teacher.</p><p>"What kind of supplies do we have?"</p><p>"Good question. The trip was supposed to last a week."</p><p>"So, we have a week's worth of food." Felicity spoke with a slight whine, her eyes rolling. "Great."</p><p>"You didn't let me finish. Keep in mind you girls attend Gladstone Academy, so there was a nice budget for lots of snacks and meals, so we've plenty, plus we can ration."</p><p>Heather narrowed her eyes. "How much of that food was perishable?"</p><p>Cecily's eyes blinked.</p><p>"Doesn't the engine flooding like they said mean there is no power to the refrigerator? Plus, we have a limited amount of water."</p><p>On one side, she appreciated Heather's thoroughness, yet found herself bothered with the fact her conclusions definitely would affect moral.</p><p>"The engine doesn't power the rest of the boat but runs on a separate battery. One of us is already seeing to figuring out where the power shorted out and seeing if we can't fix it, but we can use the battery for the engine if the one for the rest of the boat runs out of power. We've also got a backup generator which we'll start using for the refrigerator unit."</p><p>Cecily turned her head so she could look at the scientist, her smile having not once faltered, her mind focused on keeping the morals of her students up. The person walked away, allowing her to turn her head back towards the three girls. "I know the three of you aren't interested in any educational stuff right now, nor can I blame you. This said, there is a scientific solution to that particular problem."</p><p>Felicity's response didn't surprise her – the girl looked away in annoyance, her arms crossing her chest. Heather, for the first time, perked up, her attention caught by the idea of using science for survival. In the back of her mind, she knew she should be distracting the girls with fun activities rather than educational ones, yet – perhaps Heather found this fun. Amy's hand darted up, her zeal not easily diminished, but her voice perked up.</p><p>"Do you think we'll see any more Pokémon, sensei?"</p><p>Obviously, Pokémon brought the girl out of her shell, but...</p><p>"Are you kidding me?" It wasn't Felicity this time who put a damper on things, but Heather.</p><p>"Sensei and I saw a Gyrados last night."</p><p>"Well..." Cecily swallowed, not liking where the conversation was going.</p><p>"Oh, come on. Pokémon aren't real." Felicity glared at the girl, which in turn made Amy finally falter, pulling her Pikachu closer.</p><p>Cecily sighed, glancing up to see a few seagulls fly above them, a blue stripe on their otherwise white wings. She wasn't sure how to answer that one. Another marine biologist walked past. "Interesting. I've not seen that kind of seagull before."</p><p>The corners of her mouth twitched. "Please tell me there isn't a seagull Pokémon?"</p><p>"No." Heather's mouth twisting. She was obviously taking in the situation carefully, almost as if she were on her guard for some reason.</p><p>"Maybe it is an undiscovered Pokémon?" Amy piped up, yet her voice was definitely quieter than before.</p><p>"We'll go with that."</p><p>Cecily let out a sigh despite swearing she'd stop doing so; she yet again promised herself she would stop sighing in front of her students, yet Heather's attempt at trying to break the tension among the group was a definite relief.</p><p>"Are you kidding me?" Felicity, of course, felt the need to push the issue which resulted in Heather glaring at her just as a sound that sounded like "<em>karp</em>" was heard.</p><p>"Magikarp!" Amy started towards the edge of the boat, her smile and zeal returning quickly, in turn worrying Cecily.</p><p>"Wh..." Heather's eyes blinked while Felicity let out a laugh of scorn.</p><p>"There really are Magikarp!" Amy turned towards her teacher. "It's the preform of Gyrados."</p><p>"I'm not sure what that means let alone if that's a good thing." After all, the supposed Gyrados they saw the night before was definitely huge, if not dangerous. Felicity rolled her eyes while Heather walked over to the edge of the boat to see what Amy was looking at.</p><p>"There really are Magickarp here."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Time – time didn't change the fact she didn't know what to do.</p><p>The fact she didn't know what to do majorly bothered Natalie, given the fact she knew so many other things. She constantly worked hard at memorizing her lessons, yet real-world application was never something emphasized by anyone who stressed the importance of a sound education. There were no lessons in first aid, let alone how she might deal with getting lost at sea, though she had swimming lessons when she was younger because every child needed to swim, yet she couldn't remember which family member said such a thing.</p><p>There were also no lessons dealing with mythological creatures such as the one she now rode.</p><p>The only thing she could do was make sure her classmate didn't slip back into the water. She could do nothing regarding the hot sun beating down on the two riding on the back of a strange creature, blistering their skin with the hot heat. She could do nothing about the lack of water, though at least found herself glad she knew better than to drink the saltwater. She also could do nothing regarding the lack of food.</p><p>Natalie almost gave up hope when she sighted land ahead, slowly creeping closer to them over the ocean, yet she hoped she'd arrive home soon after arriving. More importantly, she couldn't help but note in the back of her head the fact Nessie, as her mind called the creature, seemed inclined to rescue them, not to mention take them to safety. In some ways, she wondered if she was imagining things, given the fact she was now riding a mythological creature.</p><p>Eventually, Nessie swam into the bay and close enough to the beach that she could reach the beach was walking, yet also drag the other girl – who she didn't know the name of – to shore. The task of course took time, but somehow did so. When she did, she looked up at the creature she called Nessie, watching said creature swim away. In the back of her mind, she noted how close the creature got without actually getting stuck, whereas a good deal of whales would in fact struggle with getting so close.</p><p>The creature turned, swimming away from the shore, glancing back at Natalie a few times. Natalie turned, looking at the beach carefully. There was a pier which seemed neglected, or underused nearby, yet said structure was the only thing she noticed indicating human life as they approached the shore, yet now that she could examine it – the lack of upkeep made her worry slightly. Taking a deep breath, she looked over at her classmate, whose skin was likely as red as her own.</p><p>Whoever she was, she remained unconscious.</p><p>"What am I supposed to do in this situation?" Reaching out, she poked the other girl in the cheek, hoping she would wake up. The girl moved slightly, her eyes tightening slightly, yet she didn't wake up. Natalie took a deep breath, looking around wondering what she should do. For some reason, she decided poking the other girl might wake her despite the fact she'd not gotten any such response before. A sigh escaped, the fact it didn't work frustrating her. "It's not that it's her fault. I mean, she hit her head, right? That's why she's unconscious?"</p><p>Natalie looked up, taking in how the beach rose up, a tree line at the top of the cliffs, blocking the view of what was beyond even with a waterfall piercing said cliffside, unfortunately not at a place they could easily get to the water for a drink. A path, on the other hand, went up. Glancing back at the other girl, something in the back of his mind knew she couldn't leave the other girl in the sun, yet she also needed to get some kind of help. Her mouth twisted, one hand reaching out to push the other girl's shoulder, hoping she might wake up before she headed up the rather obvious path leading away from the beach. "Come on, wake up."</p><p>A groan made her perk up. "My head hurts."</p><p>"You need to wake up."</p><p>"No. I don't feel good."</p><p>"We've been in the sun too much." Natalie shook the other girl. "I can't drag you to the shade over there. Can you get there on your own while I go and get help?"</p><p>The girl's eyes opened, her frustration showing. Her eyes squinted slightly from the bright light. "Yeah. Don't' want to be in the bright light." The girl sat up. Natalie wasn't expecting her to lean over and vomit onto the sand. "Yuck. I'm thirsty. My lips are salty."</p><p>"We're lucky, I think."</p><p>"Yeah right."</p><p>"I don't know where the others are. We need to get out of the sun, but I need to get help. When that happens, they'll bring water. I hope they'll bring water. Anyways..."</p><p>"I'm standing up." The other girl stood up, but somehow, they ended standing up and staggering over to the tree. She glared at Natalie. "You'd better get help. I don't know how much I'll last." Her eyes closed. "Why didn't you wake me sooner? Isn't that what you're supposed to do when someone has a concussion?"</p><p>"I didn't know."</p><p>"Wow. Something you actually don't know."</p><p>Natalie swallowed. "I'm going to go and get help now."</p><p>What the girl said, honestly stung, not to mention – she didn't feel so lucky anymore. She walked up the steep path from the beach, her arms wrapped around her small frame. Her skin burned; she was hungry – which led her to wonder how the other girl threw up – not to mention she was thirsty. She'd not thought about how her lips tasted like salt until the other girl said something, which in turn made her lick her lips even more.</p><p>Somehow, she made it up to the tree line, where she noticed the path branched off in three different directions, but a person approaching. She heard them call out, asking if she was alright. "My..." She couldn't call the girl down below a friend – Natalie knew she had none. "...classmate. She's down on the beach. She needs help. As does everyone else on the boat."</p><p>"Wait. You were on a boat during the storm last night?" The man standing in front of her – his hair was grey, his face slightly wrinkled.</p><p>Natalie nodded her head, relaxing a bit.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Out of Norm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The scent of morning coffee wafted through the air, mingling with the scent of rain after the storm which drifted in through the open window just outside of the kitchen window. Professor Oak took a deep breath, going about his morning routine like he usually did, not suspecting anything might be amiss. Outside of the window, a couple of Pidgey pecked away at seeds in the garden, but a Rattata peeked their head out from the shrubbery.</p><p>He was used to the sight of the brown bird and purple rat Pokémon, among other types. Taking a deep breath, he headed over towards the PC, turning on the video chat. He opened up a video connection, his grandson appearing on the other side. "So, how are things going?"</p><p>"Okay."</p><p>"Just okay?"</p><p>"Just okay."</p><p>Oak looked at Gary, wishing in the back of his mind his grandson would, in fact, communicate with him more regarding how he felt, among other things. Gone were the days when Gary was in preschool, easily rattling off the newest thing he learned about a Pokémon. He was now distant, despite not having hit those terrible teens others claimed was the start of such distance between children and the one who raised them.</p><p>"So, has anything happened?"</p><p>"Nothing really."</p><p>The conversation didn't get beyond that, much to his disappointment, leaving him to start into his other daily activities. He enjoyed his breakfast somewhat, his mood slightly soured by his own grandson distancing himself while they conversed, before heading out to check on the Pokémon in his care, followed by a walk through Pallet town. That was how he came across the girl.</p><p>"Are you alright?" In a way, it felt strange asking that despite the fact he knew she wasn't – he wouldn't have asked otherwise.</p><p>"My..." She paused for some reason, hesitating, then said, "...classmate. She's down on the beach. She needs help. As does everyone else on the boat."</p><p>"Wait. You were on a boat during the storm last night?" He found himself looking down at the beach. He reached a hand out for her shoulder. "Go back down to the beach and wait there with your friend." The word friend made her nose wrinkle slightly, frustration appearing on her face. The thought she looked around the age of his grandson popped into his head, but he brushed it away. "Don't worry. I'm going to go back to my place and phone for some help. Then I'll come back for you two. If she's not moving now, then we can't leave her alone."</p><p>She swallowed, her eyes indicating she wasn't sure about what he said, yet she started back down towards the beach. Samuel Oak turned, hurrying down the path faster than he got there, quickly arriving at his lab and phoning the local Jennies, informing them about finding a couple of young girls on the beach, but that they would need to find the boat they were on.</p><p>After finishing the call, he grabbed the bag he used for field research, putting a couple of water bottles into his bag, making sure they were room temperature rather than from the refrigerator. He also grabbed a bottle of aloe, hoping neither of the girls was allergic to the plant, knowing the gel would help soothe the sunburn on their faces and other exposed areas.</p><p>He soon arrived at the beach and found the girl waiting. The other girl's short brown hair cascaded down around her eyes while she breathed slightly. He knelt down, while the other girl looked at him, contemplating his actions carefully. "So, I didn't ask your name before I left you."</p><p>Natalie Long."</p><p>"And your friend?"</p><p>"She's not my friend. I don't really have any. I don't know her name."</p><p>"Do you think you can wake her?"</p><p>"Because she possibly has a concussion?"</p><p>"Well..." Oak pondered what she said briefly. "She has a head injury?" That was definitely worrisome.</p><p>"I think so. She said I should have waked her sooner because she has a concussion."</p><p>"If you didn't know what to do in the given situation, you didn't know what to do. You shouldn't hold that against yourself."</p><p>"I read a lot of books. I should have known."</p><p>"Except reading a lot of books doesn't mean you know everything. Look at me. I'm a Professor and yet I'm still learning a lot of things. I'm rather old, right?"</p><p>"I guess that makes sense." The girl nudged the other girl. "Hey, I brought help."</p><p>"Go away. Let me sleep."</p><p>"You know, if you have a concussion, we can't let you sleep." Oak smiled at the girl, watching as her brown eyes focused on him. He couldn't blame her for being grumpy but handed her a bottle of water he pulled from the bag, opening the cap. "Are you thirsty? I'm guessing you are." She took the bottle and started drinking. "Drink slowly." He pulled out another bottle, handing it to Natalie. "Here. One for you as well. Help is on its way."</p><p>"Thank you."</p><p>The other girl, the way her eyes darted around made him suspect she did indeed have a concussion. "Hey. What is your name?"</p><p>"Chelsey." The girl took a drink of her water, her eyes starting to droop.</p><p>Oak reached out, nudging her. "I can't let you fall asleep yet, kiddo. Not until someone who specializes in medical treatment arrives. They should be here soon."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Shouldn't Be</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sheltered...</p><p>Saying Amy Walton was a sheltered child was likely an understatement. Her daily schedule never varied from the electric itinerary used by the person placed in charge of micromanaging every aspect of her daily life. The only real place she found an ounce of freedom was at school, where the person in charge of micromanaging didn't look over her shoulder through whatever given activity, she found herself placed in, or late at night when she was supposed to be in bed sleeping.</p><p>"<em>Cartoons are for children.</em>"</p><p>The implication was definitely that she was not a child, despite the fact she knew full well her age definitely indicated she was still a child. While she was definitely naïve regarding a <em>lot</em> of things, only ever socially interacting with those her parents found socially acceptable, she definitely knew she was still a child, yet wanted to participate in the things she overheard her classmates speak about.</p><p>More importantly, her nine-year-old self fell in love with one show in particular which was about a boy not much older than her going on a Journey with his Pikachu. She fell in love with the show, buying a stuffed Pikachu secretly on a school trip which she, in turn, hid in her room where her parents wouldn't find the toy, bringing it out at night. The people in charge of cleaning never took away her hidden stash of goodies under her bed, nor did the person who wakes her question her use of a stuffed animal.</p><p>Her parents were definitely absent in her life despite how controlled they kept her life, with certain expectations regarding her grades and violin lessons.</p><p>Yet, this proved advantageous, in that they never questioned the electric itinerary from the school; instead, any and all school activities were automatically downloaded into the device her mentor carried, the academic schedule often superseding the other schedule. More importantly, she'd overheard other students discussing how they signed for their parents whenever they needed their parents' signature.</p><p>The word forgery – it was a foreign word let alone concept, not to mention she didn't know the ramifications which might result from such a thing. She didn't understand the concept of having a low enough grade on a test so that a signature from the parents was required, but she did understand the plight of the students who struggled with not getting a signature for a school field trip because their parents were never around to sign, let alone any of the other issues.</p><p>In fact, she'd never visited the principle's office as the ramification for any negative behavior, but instead, as a means where she saw herself given privileges other students wanted, let alone craved. More importantly, nobody expected a thing, let alone the fact she'd done such a thing, yet...</p><p>... despite everything which occurred the night before, she found herself definitely glad she'd taken the chance to do something her parents likely would never have allowed her to do, as boats weren't safe for their precious daughter who was now ten, but still shy and unspoken as before – silence always let her do things, like hiding her Pikachu toy under her bed. "Wow." She looked down at the red fish with their yellow whisker. "They're beautiful."</p><p>"You know, they're like, one of the most useless Pokémon ever." The sound of Heather's voice made her glance up, slightly surprised the other girl was speaking directly to her. Prior to this, she didn't interact with her fellow students outside of planned play dates, nor was her previous comment about siting the creatures directed at her.</p><p>"But they become Gyrados, so we should catch one."</p><p>"Uh..." Heather looked down at the creature.</p><p>"Dumb ass..."</p><p>"Felicity!" The sound of their teacher's voice broke the silence.</p><p>"Fine. I'm sorry for calling you that, but that doesn't change the fact we don't have a Pokeball but should be far more focused on getting to shore than observing all these stupid Pokémon."</p><p>"You don't like Pokémon?"</p><p>"I..." Felicity glanced away, curling a lock of hair around her finger, her lips pouting out. "I like boys. Boys are cute." She then muttered something under her breath, which barely registered despite the fact Amy definitely heard what the other girl said. "I want Gary Oak as my real-life boyfriend."</p><p>"You..." Heather obviously heard, her eyes narrowing. "You have issues."</p><p>"I do not!"</p><p>"Don't we all have issues?" Amy looked back down at the waters below.</p><p>"Oh, what kind of issues do you have, little miss perfect?"</p><p>It was then and there that Amy realized signing for her parents was probably not a good thing, as they obviously didn't know where she was. Her mouth clamped shut, unsure of how to share that particular secret. The teacher was nice, but the thought of getting in trouble with her when she was so nice...</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Story Of...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>What would little miss perfect know? Everyone in the sixth-grade knows she and that Natalie brat makes some of the best grades.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Except, Felicity <em>wasn't</em> going into the sixth grade. Technically, she should be going into the seventh grade, yet the upper division at Gladstone Academy evaded her.</p><p>"<em>Not because I don't put in the effort. I've just got better things to worry about.</em>"</p><p>Felicity glanced over the edge, taking in the sight of the Magikarp like creatures swimming around the boat which was standing still in the water. She let her arms fold across her chest, before walking away, her irritation growing. "I wouldn't be here if my parents didn't make me be here. You two are major losers for gawking at weird fish and claiming they are Magikarp."</p><p>As there was nothing to do, the teacher not giving any specific orders, Felicity headed down to her room, glad Nichole was no longer sharing a room with her while she held up her phone, getting no signal which made her fling the device across the room. The sound of the plastic hitting the wall made her feel good, yet only for a moment. Instead, she found herself looking at the ceiling, wishing she was doing the actual things she planned on doing this summer.</p><p>Specifically, she shouldn't be on a boat in the middle of nowhere, but instead at the mall with her friends. She wanted to purchase the latest fashion trends – her parents could definitely afford it. She wanted to <em>see</em> the movies that just came out, such as <em>Tarzan</em>, which the other fifth-graders going into sixth-grade were rooting for, but also <em>American Pie</em>, the movie the girls in the upper-division were apparently talking about.</p><p>So many movies to choose from, all of which were inside a nice, cool theater while they were lucky when the scientists – who were supposed to take care of them rather than letting them get into this kind of a mess – got the cool air running inside, which allowed her to retreat into the silence. She wanted a shower, from all the sweat gathered up on deck, yet their stupid teacher implemented a plan long before the storm hit regarding the use of the shower, meaning she could <em>not</em> use it.</p><p>The thought of sneaking into the shower fled her mind when said stupid teacher knocked on the door.</p><p>"We'd like your help on deck with a project to pass the time."</p><p>"No."</p><p>"Excuse me?"</p><p>"Don't you dare tell me to get my priorities straight! The ones who don't have their priorities straight are my parents who insisted I go on this stupid trip!" Felicity stood up. "I'd rather..."</p><p>"Now, where did that come from?" Their teacher folded her arms across her chest.</p><p>"Where? You're not aware of the fact I've been held back not once, but twice and that the reason I'm on this trip is because it's how my parents are making it so that I'm able to stay in the school rather than paying some damn money that they very well can afford to keep me in not to mention the fact keep me in the correct grade."</p><p>"I see." The teacher stood in the doorway, remaining silent as if pondering what to do regarding the situation. "I'm guessing you blame your parents for our current situation?"</p><p>"Of course! They're the reason we're on this trip!"</p><p>"So, you're not at all on this trip because you didn't bother keeping your grades up."</p><p>"Not my problem."</p><p>"Question. What were you doing instead of your schoolwork?"</p><p>"Hanging out with my friends." Felicity rolled her eyes. "This has put a major cramp in me getting a boyfriend, you know."</p><p>"And why's that?"</p><p>"Because none of them ninth-graders want to date a fifth-grader."</p><p>"So, you basically want to date a guy who is older than you?"</p><p>"Well, no. That's just where most of the guys who are in for dating are."</p><p>"I see."</p><p>"You don't see!" Felicity sat up. "I'm the age of the girls going into the seventh grade, meaning age-wise I'm supposed to be liking and doing things they want to do, but they don't want to hang out with me anymore except a select few maybe because I'm also expected to like other things because I'm still in the fifth grade. Thank god nobody knows how old I am online."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"You know when I write stories about stuff I like. There are adults who like the stuff us fifth graders like, like this Pokémon..." Felicity's mouth snapped shut. "Never mind."</p><p>"Well, it's almost lunchtime. Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"</p><p>"I'm positive."</p><p>"Alright."</p><p>The stupid teacher left her alone, wishing she had something to do. Taking a deep breath, she sat up, glancing over at Nichole's stuff. She'd not thought about bringing <em>that</em> with her, but a geek like Nichole would likely have <em>that</em> on her. Without caring, she unzipped Nichole's backpack, everything which was neatly packed scattering on the floor – she held major doubts she would repack the way Nichole did, yet found what she wanted.</p><p>She grabbed a notepad and pen, flopping onto the bed and started scribbling out a story. Pokémon – that particular topic, a secret guilty pleasure of hers that she didn't tell <em>anybody </em>at school – was the main subject, with her catching amazing Pokémon, so she might end up dating...</p><p>"Felicity?"</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"I was going to tell you it was dinner time, but I see you've gotten into Nichole's things. Why?"</p><p>"Because she's dead."</p><p>"You don't know that."</p><p>"You don't know she's alive either."</p><p>"I would like that notepad and pen please."</p><p>"No."</p><p>"That isn't yours."</p><p>"Just give it to the teacher already."</p><p>Felicity looked up, glaring at Heather who obviously felt the need to intervene but look down on her. She flung the notepad across the room into the wall, not caring that her attitude stunk, let alone the looks on the faces of the three who watched her. Amy was too perfect, the teacher didn't get things like all other adults did, and Heather should have been born a boy – she didn't care that her thoughts were cruel either, yet still kept them to herself lest she got yet another unwanted lecture.</p><p>She was mad she wasn't being allowed to finish her story.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm one of those people whose all for supporting young writers. However, I think one of the things us older writers need to do with younger writers isn't just to encourage them to write, but to also encourage  healthy writing behavior. On one side, writing can be a wonderful escape, but we shouldn't be so engrossed with our writing that we become hurtful towards others.</p><p>I'm also curious regarding how readers feel regarding Felicity's character at this point due to the fact I think she's a rather divisive character.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Nothingness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The water from the plastic bottle slipping down her throat honestly felt good, yet out of the corner of her eye, Natalie honestly didn't know how to process anything going on around her. Although she felt slight relief upon meeting the man, said relief proved fleeting, her mind starting to process – possibly over process – the situation she found herself in.</p><p>One might say it didn't take a rocket scientist to understand that Chelsey – her classmate – wasn't doing well. Soon also felt like forever, even after a couple of people arrived on the beach with a stretcher to carry Chelsey up form the Beach, yet she found herself worried when one of the medical people said, "Would it be possible to treat her at your lab, Professor Oak?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>Natalie turned to the man. "They're not taking her to a hospital?"</p><p>"We don't actually have a hospital in Pallet Town, but my lab is closer than the nearest doctor's office and I have the equipment they need to treat your companion. After all, I use said equipment to treat Pokémon."</p><p>"Pokémon? What is a Pokémon?" The question was honest, yet the look on his face made her shrink back. The fact she didn't know what a Pokémon was – this honestly surprised the man, yet she couldn't think of the last time she didn't know something off the tip of her tongue. "<em>Wait. I remember. I didn't know any first aid stuff.</em>"</p><p>Oak watched her carefully, before patting her on the back. "Come on. Let's head up to my lab. You really don't know what a Pokémon is?"</p><p>"Well, no." Natalie looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed. In the back of her mind, she remembered the sound of her parent's voice as they drilled into her everything she needed to know to become a scientist, doctor or even a lawyer, yet remembered the sharp sounds of their voices the last time she didn't rattle off a given fact they expected her to have memorized, something she thought she'd left behind her a few years ago when she finally figured out how to do what one of her older siblings called "hitting the books".</p><p>"Perhaps they call them something different where you're from?"</p><p>"Maybe that's it." She relaxed the anxiety which hit the pit of her stomach fading. The old man gently took her hand, leading her up the path after the two people carrying Chelsey. The walk was long, yet even more uphill from the beach, yet when the building started coming into sight, she found her eyes widening in excitement. "Wow."</p><p>"Yes. That's my lab. I research Pokémon there."</p><p>"Is that an option if one for someone going into a science field?"</p><p>"Well, while it is a science field, I don't think most of us Pokémon Professors go in thinking that's going to be our route with Pokémon. We tend to start off as trainers who become interested in – well, studying Pokémon."</p><p>"Oh." Her mouth curled slightly. She wondered why she asked the question, but she soon found herself sitting in the lab, which made her wonder if getting to have a lab like the one she was now in was why her parents wanted her to go far in her life. Oak brought her something to eat, reminding her to eat slowly, letting her know he would be nearby in the lab if she needed him; he let her know the doctors might want to look her over.</p><p>Which, they did.</p><p>She waited, waiting specifically for news on Chelsey, learning later on in the evening that her friend was in a room Oak uses when he was at the lab late. She didn't understand much of what was said, beyond the fact Oak would be waking Chelsey up every few hours for the next couple of days, allowing her classmate to rest. He set up a bed for her on one of the couches while he continued working in order to keep himself busy.</p><p>There was an entire shelf of books she wanted to read, her mind going numb in her opinion from not having anything to study, yet she didn't dare ask Oak if she could read any of the books. She'd wandered over, recognizing the large size as the size of the books in her father's office – books that, even with her parents pushing her studies, she wasn't allowed to touch. "<em>Maybe when you're in high school. Then you'll understand it.</em>"</p><p>"<em>I understood that at her age</em>," one of her siblings said.</p><p>"<em>Come on. Let Natalie be a kid. We certainly didn't get to be.</em>" The faces of her siblings blended together, the age gap between them and how they rarely ever visited home leaving them an enigma beyond the fact she knew her parents expected her, the youngest child, to somehow surpass her older siblings. She swallowed, pushing the thought aside, standing up and heading into Chelsey's room right behind Oak.</p><p>She watched Oak wake her, watched Chelsey become groggy, but then Oak looked up, his hand waving her over. Natalie found herself wondering when Chelsey would do more than walk to the nearby bathroom or do something other than eating the light meal Oak prepared – a rice porridge she overheard Chesley complaining about, calling it a rice pudding for some reason. "Your classmate is worried about you, so I'll let you talk. That said Natalie, don't stay too long."</p><p>Natalie couldn't remember if this was the first day, or the second day when it occurred; time was difficult to measure without her routine. In fact, she'd twisted her napkins when Oak told her he didn't recognize the name of the town she was from, let alone the country. Mentally, she wanted to organize <em>something</em>, do <em>something.</em> Instead, she found herself staring at one of the girls who didn't care about the most important thing in life – academics.</p><p>Chelsey moved, then glared, her eyes shutting as if this pained her. "Go away. I don't want to be friends with a know it all like you."</p><p>The words definitely stung.</p><p>Natalie left, tapping the door frame of the door three times before sitting down on the couch, her right foot tapping three times, while her jaw moved back and forth three times. Proper cleanliness was definitely a routine she still had, yet she did definitely notice the way Oak looked at her, almost as if he found something off about her behaviors, which just worried her more.</p><p>It was probably the second day that Chelsey reacted the way she did because Oak didn't give Natalie a task the day after she slept on the couch. He placed her in charge of washing dishes in his small kitchen where he prepared his meals while he was there. Apparently, from what she inferred, he actually didn't live at the lab, though he easily could. "Not really any point in going home when my grandkids aren't there to greet me."</p><p>"And not your wife either?"</p><p>"She's passed away, unfortunately. When you get old, you lose a lot of connections."</p><p>"<em>Is that important?</em>" Natalie wondered this over the last few days, struggling with the fact she honestly didn't miss her parents. Instead, she missed the routine of going to school, of cramming her studies in, of having something to do. She remembered what her parents looked like, yet, despite the fact she figured out they weren't anywhere near America that they honestly wouldn't be worried if she was gone. In fact, they'd be relieved. She was far more worried regarding the fact they'd still not found the boat.</p><p>She was busy <em>trying</em> to figure out how to wash dishes, yet another thing <em>nobody</em> taught her when she saw the purple rat and a rather large bird, her eyes blinking.</p><p>"Do you think there's anything other than that horrible rice pudding?"</p><p>The dish in Natalie's hand dropped onto the ground, breaking.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Fallacies of Life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She was one of <em>those</em> scholarship kids, ones picked because of their family's economic status. That was how Heather got into Gladstone Academy, yet she found herself dreading every single day of school <em>knowing</em> how the other students saw her specifically, while her mind struggled through her studies while worrying about her single mother and siblings. Attending Gladstone definitely didn't put food on the table, yet a ten-year-old couldn't feasibly get a job.</p><p>Of course, she did happen to have a game system and a Pokémon game, although she'd gotten them used, having spent her allowance on the games before actually understanding how hard things were for her mother, or perhaps things simply became the way they were after that, which in turn led to her getting the scholarship to make Gladstone academy look good on the surface.</p><p>"<em>You do realize how what you did makes us look, young lady?</em>"</p><p>"<em>If you want to stay in the academy, but us not tell your mother what you've been up to, then you need to go on this school trip and get your grades up.</em>"</p><p>"<em>I don't understand. What's wrong with me trying to help my mother out?</em>"</p><p>"<em>Lying, cheating...</em>"</p><p>"<em>I didn't cheat. Maybe I lied about my age, but I didn't cheat. And it's not gambling.</em>" She suspected one of the people on the school board whom she found herself in front of had a gambling problem, given the way their facial features paled. Yet, here she was because she got caught, the adults telling her to leave adult things to adults, not to mention her mother being excited at the all-expense-paid school trip.</p><p>Guilt definitely welled over her, first from making her mother worry given the storm, but then after the fact she did indeed recognize the Pokémon swimming by the boat while it floated there, its engine stalled out because of what the scientists said was a drowned outboard engine. Another referred to it as dunked. In all honesty, she didn't think they knew what was going on, given the fact they were stuck out at sea.</p><p>Adults – she didn't understand them.</p><p>She also didn't know <em>how</em> to feel about Chelsey getting washed overboard. She was one of those girls who tried hanging out with her group of friends at times, but also other nerdy groups, yet she easily threw a tantrum whenever she didn't get her way with the other kids, such as, "<em>No, I don't want to trade Pokémon with someone who cheats to get their Pokémon. I mean, everyone at school knows that...</em>"</p><p>"<em>You're one to talk. I mean, I know why you're here.</em>"</p><p>Conversations regarding not trading Pokémon with her wasn't unheard of, given the fact the reason nobody wanted to hang out with her came down to the fact she cheated at the game in order that she might rush through, but get herself a team that she might wipe the floor should she challenge another person playing the game, although nobody wanted a Pokémon battle with her either. As someone who played games hardcore – the ones she did manage to own, Heather wanted nothing to do with her.</p><p>"Plus, she doesn't know what it's like to go without food in your belly. She wouldn't understand why..." Heather shut her mouth, her eyes glancing over at Felicity. She found herself definitely frustrated with both girls who were at the school because their parents could definitely afford the tuition, among other things. The fact Felicity actually stole Natalie's notepad despite the fact it wasn't an emergency just for her own amusement – it made her sick, yet feel a headache coming on.</p><p>A tug at her sleeve made her startle, her attention turning towards Amy. Her eyes blinked, finding Amy a definite surprise from what she expected, although she couldn't stop talking when it came to Pokémon. "The marine biologist people said they'll help us capture the fish we called Magikarp because they've never seen it before, but it's a nice distraction, given the fact we've been here a few days."</p><p>"You know, there is a chance nobody will find us."</p><p>"I know. I'd rather make the best of things."</p><p>Heather let out a sigh, following after the girl so she could help her, and the marine biologists capture some fish with some of the undamaged equipment. It did definitely distract Heather from her guilty mind, the worries of ever seeing her mother again playing around with her head. She wiped her forehead. Amy's skin – thankfully they found some sunscreen in Natalie's bag that she could use, although it definitely surprised her that Amy didn't have any of her own.</p><p>"<em>We'll apologize to Natalie when we found her, though I suspect there is a reason she had a first aid kit. She must be rather good at thinking of everything, but I do hope they're not dead. That includes Chelsey, despite the fact she wouldn't leave me alone.</em>" In fact, they found themselves unable to <em>pack</em> everything back into Natalie's bag, which was <em>why</em> they knew the sunscreen was there, but there wasn't any sunscreen in their first aid kit. No, Natalie packed a lot of other things they might need.</p><p>"Lunch is ready."</p><p>Heather looked down at the tank of water now containing four Magickarp for observation purposes. At least, she thought it was a tank. She thought of asking one of the scientists who was skimming seaweed which floated the boat so they might put it into the tank to see if the Magikarp might eat the material. Even Heather wasn't sure what a Magikarp would eat, as that wasn't something the games ever went over.</p><p>"Heather, while I'm glad you're interested in observing those fish, you really need to come and eat something. We've plenty of food." The teacher's words made Heather close her eyes, trying not to think of what the woman said, her throat tightening slightly in frustration. While they indeed have plenty of food, there were important people who she cared about who didn't have plenty. "Heather, is something the matter?"</p><p>"Yeah. It's hard to eat when I know my mother and siblings are likely going without."</p><p>"Oh." Their teacher located herself nearby, her arms crossing her chest while she looked at the fish. She apparently knew nothing about Pokémon, yet Heather wasn't sure that matter. "I remember you said you were on this trip because of something you did. Care to share?"</p><p>"Why? So, you can judge me?"</p><p>"Well, while it does seem like your family isn't well to do, that's no fault of your own, is it?"</p><p>"Is it?" Heather let out a sigh. "If I was older, I could make money easily. I mean, I wouldn't have had to lie about my age..."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>She turned, looking her teacher in the eye, knowing full well the woman would indeed judge her. "Look. I entered game tournaments for money. Pokémon tournaments, but I did well, getting extra money that I used to purchase some extra stuff for my siblings, so they weren't so hungry. Slipped some into mom's wallet as well, without her knowing."</p><p>"Your mother must not have been thrilled when she found out, given how worried it must have made her."</p><p>"Mom doesn't know. Only the school. They know because one of the older girls got beat by me..."</p><p>"Was beaten by me."</p><p>"Fine. One of the older girls was beaten by me in the tournament, but she turned me into the school instead of the gaming committee but got her parents involved. Her rich parents."</p><p>"The fact the school didn't tell your mother is wrong. I can't condone what you did either, because you did lie, among other things, yet I think your heart was in the right place."</p><p>"I still feel like the villain."</p><p>"You're only ten though. You have a long way to go before you become a hero or a villain, don't you think."</p><p>"You mean before I become an adult."</p><p>"Yes. Childhood is the time for you kids to discover what kind of adult you want to become."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Awakening</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her head spun.</p><p>More specifically, her head hurt.</p><p>Irritatingly enough, Natalie, the know-it-all, didn't realize that she, Chelsey, did, in fact, have a concussion, yet she also took some level of glee regarding the fact she knew something the other girl did not.</p><p>That brought her some level of comfort, as did finding herself in a nice warm bed with soft sheets, the lights dimmed so her head might not hurt as much. An old man came in every so often to wake her, asking how she was; if she wasn't well, he could call those nice doctors who helped her out, yet the headache started subsiding, although she didn't want to get out of bed, particularly with the painful sunburn on her cheeks and arms.</p><p>The rice pudding – she'd always hated rice pudding, yet gagged the dish down, holding her nose as she did so, sometimes dumping the dish into a potted plant like she'd seen done in a television show she'd watched while waiting up late at night for her parents to get home from work. As lawyers, her parents worked long hours at the law firm they worked at, leaving her to her own devices.</p><p>Of course, to get attention, she knew how to milk being ill, yet the kind of attention levied on her by the old man definitely wasn't the same kind of attention she got from her parents, nor did she like it when Natalie came to check on her. Worse, she found herself growing board, having not realized that television and other such fun things were in fact banned because of her concussion, meaning pretending she was still ailed after the first twenty-four hours honestly didn't give her the personal benefits she wanted.</p><p>She didn't know how they'd both ended up on the beach, yet she overheard they'd not found the others of the boat.</p><p>"<em>Good riddance. She wasn't willing to...</em>" Chelsey then realized her Pokémon game was on the boat, confiscated because she refused to put it away as the teacher wanted. "<em>She likely forgot about it like all of those stupid teachers do.</em>" She lay there, looking at the ceiling, contemplating having Pokémon battles with the various other students at school, her hands tucked behind her back. In every scenario she won, for she'd never lost at a game when she played against the other students.</p><p>"<em>That's the real reason why nobody wants to play with me anymore. I'm that good. You'd think they'd want to trade with me. I mean, you get the best Pokémon by using a cheat device.</em>" She remembered her parents telling her the problem was with the bullies at school and not her when she told them nobody wanted to be her friend. Of course, she never went into details regarding the situation with her parents – she was unequivocally being bullied in school.</p><p>The teachers also bullied her, although her parents were less understanding when she brought up the fact, she was stuck doing bonus work to bring her grades up. Of course, that wasn't <em>why</em> she was recommended for this trip, being that there were concerns regarding her social development, yet her parents felt this would allow her to actually make friends. "<em>If only they knew one of the girls who bullied me was there. Well, good riddance if she's dead. She deserves it.</em>"</p><p>Of course, wallowing in her own self-pity occupied Chelsey for so long, but more importantly, her stomach wanted something other than rice pudding, the temptation to pour the offending substance into the planted pot growing along with the grumbles in her stomach indicating she was in fact hungry. She felt as if she were going crazy, doing nothing, and found herself sitting up.</p><p>As for how she felt, the headache she felt disappeared a few days ago, although she did feel slightly dizzy from her concussion. Outside of the room, there was a lot of sunshine, which did, in fact, bring on a slight twinge when she got up for the restroom. The bathroom was small, containing a small sink, a toilet, and a shower. Of course, she didn't have anything to shower and change into, her clothes being on the boat which was missing.</p><p>"<em>Okay. So maybe the boat going down with everybody else isn't such a good thing. Plus, my game was on that boat. I really want my games. I am so bored. Very, very bored.</em>"</p><p>In the back of her mind, she didn't understand <em>why</em> they wouldn't let her shower the first day, but then the adults around her complicated things by insisting they'd find some clothes for her which were in fact not her own clothes, but instead clothes which someone else bought for her, ones she herself did not pick out. They would also provide her with their choice of shampoo and toiletries, but more importantly, she didn't understand when she complained this wasn't adequate.</p><p>"<em>Seriously. How hard is it to understand?</em>"</p><p>Eventually, her boredom and hunger got the better of her, and she headed towards the kitchen area or the direction she thought the kitchen might be in. Her decision was made by the fact she saw the one door open, but when she arrived, she found Natalie attempting to wash dishes in the kitchen, her eyes glued on something outside of the window, rather than on whatever else was going on, including the fact Chelsey now stood in the doorway.</p><p>"Do you think there's anything other than that horrible rice pudding?"</p><p>She watched Natalie drop the dish on the ground, turning to her with eyes wide. Glass was all around the other girl's feet. She simply stared, making Chelsey feel irritated, given the fact she wanted something other than rice pudding to eat. She narrowed her eyes. "What? Is there something on my face?"</p><p>"There's really big bids outside."</p><p>"And?"</p><p>"There's a purple rat."</p><p>"Um, yeah. Pokémon don't exist."</p><p>"Pokémon?" Natalie stood there, not moving, her eyes drifting slightly indicating she was thinking, much to Chelsey's irritation. "Was that Nessie a Pokémon?"</p><p>"What Nessie?"</p><p>"It was this blue creature like the Loch Ness monster, but with this grey shell on it's back. It's what saved us and brought us to the beach."</p><p>"Sure. We were rescued by a Lapras."</p><p>"Nessie is a Lapras?"</p><p>"Are you an idiot. I told you Pokémon don't exist."</p><p>"But Professor Oak studies Pokémon."</p><p>Chelsey stared at the girl, her confusion growing. "Who?"</p><p>"That would be me, the old man whose been taking care of you for the last few days."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Are</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She found herself honestly baffled by Chelsey's behavior, saying Pokémon didn't exist when the old man definitely told her they did, not to mention she was sure she saw what she saw, not only just now outside of the window, but also when the strange creature rescued her and Chelsey from the ocean. In fact, her mind was attempting to wrap her mind around how lucky they were to make it to the beach, given the fact the local doctor in the small town did, in fact, say Chelsey had a concussion, something Natalie realized was not a good thing.</p><p>The other girl's behavior became even more baffling when she let out a squeak, hearing Professor Oak behind her, turning and looking the man in the eye. "You're lying."</p><p>"I am not lying. I don't know why you think I am."</p><p>"Pokémon isn't real. It's just a game."</p><p>"A game?" Oak frowned. "I am not following."</p><p>"I mean what I said! It's a video game! This must be some kind of major joke, or... or..." Chelsey swallowed. "I hit my head harder than I thought and I'm imagining things."</p><p>"Wouldn't that mean I'm imagining things as well?" Natalie's mouth pressed together, her young mind taking in the fact Chelsey insisted Pokémon weren't real, yet for some reason did – unlike her – have knowledge of the creatures. She started turning back to the window, thinking of suggesting Chelsey look outside at the purple rat when she heard Professor Oak's voice become rather loud.</p><p>"Stop!" His words made her stop turning, but she looked him in the eye, not wanting to get in trouble. "Don't move until I get the ground cleaned up at your feet, otherwise you might step on one of those pieces and cut yourself." She looked down then, remembering she'd dropped something, a dish, on the ground. She heard his feet shuffling through the room before she saw a dustpan and broom, sweeping the shards of the dish away from her feet, allowing her to step away. "Why don't you and Chelsey step outside for a bit?"</p><p>"Wouldn't it be better, if I know, sleep?" Chelsey let out a sound which indicated she was annoyed. "I mean, I must be losing my mind."</p><p>"Honestly, I don't understand what you meant by game, but I still think it would be a good idea for you two to get some fresh air outside. Don't go far but do enjoy yourselves."</p><p>Natalie watched Chelsey let out a string of curses, which didn't impress Professor Oak at all. Her eyes widened, not wanting to get in trouble. "We'll go outside."</p><p>"We will not."</p><p>"We will."</p><p>"Please don't argue. There isn't much for the two of you to do inside anyways, but normally children your age go out and play in this town, looking for..."</p><p>"Pokémon aren't real!" Chelsey stormed away, shoving rudely past Oak. Natalie's eyes blinked, confused regarding why Chelsey acted in such a rude manner.</p><p>"Well, I don't quite understand what is going on, but she is definitely headed for the front door despite saying she wouldn't go outside."</p><p>"Maybe because there is no other place to go, but nothing to really do. Your books are rather big."</p><p>"Oh, yes. Not many children would be interested in those things, let alone understand them."</p><p>Natalie took a deep breath, feeling her suspicions regarding the books confirmed. She smiled at the man despite this, despite knowing the smile felt fake. "Okay." She headed out of the room, yet upon getting outside, she didn't even know where to begin. She looked around, realizing she didn't see Chelsey. "<em>Perhaps I should find her?</em>"</p><p>She headed along the path outside of the lap, catching sight of a fence. Turning the corner, she saw Chelsey staring at what looked like a bison with multiple tail – three, but there were also three odd bony bumps on the bison's forehead. She headed over, curiosity getting the better of her. She took a deep breath. "What are you looking at?"</p><p>"A Tauros, a goodness to gracious Tauros."</p><p>"What is a Tauros?"</p><p>"A Pokémon. A real-life Pokémon."</p><p>"You were just saying they weren't."</p><p>"That's because it's just a game. A game..." A smile spread across Chelsey's face. "I'm actually good at that game. I could potentially become a Pokémon master, prove Heather wrong. That stupid Heather, not wanting to trade Pokémon with me."</p><p>Natalie frowned, watching the other girl. "I don't actually know what you're talking about."</p><p>"How can you not?"</p><p>"I don't."</p><p>"Loser. What kind of person doesn't know about Pokémon?"</p><p>The words honestly hurt. Just a few minutes earlier, the girl in front of her talked about how Pokémon weren't real, yet now rubbed in the fact she'd never heard of Pokémon before despite the fact she definitely believed what he eyes saw. Natalie swallowed, looking down at the ground, while Chelsey continued looking out at the creature she called a Tauros.</p><p>"It must be one of Ash Catchem."</p><p>Natalie wanted to say, "<em>who</em>", but the word refused to leave her mouth.</p><p>"He's from the cartoon adaption of the games, but he's setting out to be the ultimate trainer and his rival is Gary Oak."</p><p>"<em>Does she mean the old man in there? Has it been that long since the events of this cartoon show? Why would they make a cartoon show out of a historical event? Wait, she said it wasn't even real, so how is this all happening? Should I even ask?</em>"</p><p>"That's his grandfather in there, but he might give me a Pokémon. Probably not you, because you don't know squat regarding Pokémon, but I could start my life as Pokémon trainer and never, ever go back home."</p><p>"Wait. What about..."</p><p>"My parents would support me. They always do."</p><p>"No, I mean, what about the others on the boat."</p><p>"Who cares?"</p><p>"But they might be dead."</p><p>"I hate Heather. She refused to trade Pokémon or battle with me because I was so much better than her. I couldn't care if she died."</p><p>"That's cruel."</p><p>"Who are you to tell me what is or isn't cruel?"</p><p>"I don't know what's wrong with you, but not caring whether someone lives or dies is definitely cruel. More importantly," Natalie took a deep breath. "I may not understand this whole Pokémon thing, but if you talk like that, I don't think the reason she didn't want to trade or battle with you had nothing to do with you being better than her. I don't want anything to do with you."</p><p>She turned, starting inside of the lab, really truly not wanting to have anything to do with Chelsey. She heard Chelsey's voice strain behind her. "Wait. I was joking."</p><p>"Well, it wasn't very funny. Learn some better jokes." Natalie headed in, plopping down on the couch inside, but not before she stepped in and Professor Oak looked up.</p><p>"What's wrong?"</p><p>"Nothing." She didn't want to get Chelsey in trouble. She turned towards Oak, asking what she'd asked a few other times. "Still no word on the others?"</p><p>Chelsey walked in right then. "Sorry, but no word yet. Hopefully soon. Perhaps they'll have the kind of luck you and your fr... classmate had." Natalie heard Chelsey hurry off towards the room she was sleeping in, but the door slammed shut. Professor Oak cleared his voice. "Well, I don't think she liked the fact I didn't say friend there."</p><p>"We really don't know each other, so it's a bit early to call each other friend, isn't it?" Natalie peeked over the top of the couch. "<em>I'm not sure I want to ever be her friend after she said that.</em>"</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Low Morale</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>How are we going to get home?</em>"</p><p>In the back of her mind, Cecily didn't want to believe what she saw the night of the storm was real, given the fact it meant so many things, such as this world the three girls were talking about actually being real. She wasn't sure if this bothered the scientists they were with, given the fact they seemed to brush the girl's ramblings regarding the world of monsters people trained to be their way of coping with the given situation, yet they'd not seen what she and Amy saw that night.</p><p>She found herself staring at the red fish swimming about, that the girls planned on training into Gyrados, though the look on Heather's face questioned this. In fact, she watched the girls carefully noting each of the ones in front of her had some kind of problem. Heather – she was upfront from the start that she was there because of something she did. Amy didn't seem to have any friends despite coming from the same rich family background that other students came from.</p><p>And then there was Felicity, who was, in fact, two years older than the other girls. She felt guilty for not looking into such things more before coming on this trip, for assuming each child was privileged, yet she'd not noticed the birthdate and age on the form. Yet, despite being held back she did indeed act like a spoiled brat, going into Natalie's things as if they were her own, but looking at the writing...</p><p>"<em>Maybe that is a way to foster her growth? Still, I don't want to reward her with one of my notebooks just yet, as that would make it seem like she's being awarded for bad behavior. I don't want to discourage her from writing, but she can't get so focused on her writing she's not aware of what is going on around her. Maybe, though, that's the problem. She gets so focused she doesn't notice other things she should</em>."</p><p>"Sensei..."</p><p>She opened her mouth, planning on asking Amy <em>what</em> that was about when Felicity snapped at the other girl. "Would you stop that already? You're not Japanese. "</p><p>"But it's a sign of respect, isn't it?"</p><p>"You're still not Japanese, so it's not okay to want to pretend to be Japanese."</p><p>"I'm not pretending to be Japanese. I just think it's a good idea."</p><p>"To use a language that isn't yours."</p><p>"No. To have special titles for special people."</p><p>"Well, you're definitely special, so I've got a special title for you. Your special title is retard."</p><p>"Hey!" Celicity snapped, wishing the days going by without any sign of rescue weren't so taxing on her. Felicity, of course, glared at her. "Don't call your classmate that!"</p><p>"But she is one."</p><p>"You're the retard," Heather spoke up.</p><p>"Excuse me?" Felicity turned, glaring at Heather.</p><p>"You're a retard for calling her..."</p><p>"Enough. No more name-calling. I need you, girls, to get along until we are rescued from this situation, we're in."</p><p>"It's not as if we're going to be rescued!" Felicity pointed her finger at the other two. "And those two are re.... dumb for thinking that those things are Magikarp! Pokémon aren't real, but that would mean we've been taken into a completely different world, which means we have no contact with anyone. Not our parents, our school..."</p><p>"What?" Heather paled suddenly, her eyes darting away.</p><p>Heather's problem...</p><p>Celicity suddenly felt as if her words regarding childhood were amiss, as it felt like the world was forcing Felicity into being an adult despite still being a child. The fact Heather struggled with the idea a child her age didn't need to be putting bread onto the table would be an unpleasant revelation for any teacher, yet in the back of her mind, if she wasn't worried about exactly what Felicity was saying, she'd be thinking of a way to – when they got back, help Heather out in her situation.</p><p>"<em>There has to be more than just a scholarship that the school can do, though would her mother see it as charity and not want such help?</em>"</p><p>"I mean, come on! What we see here is just a fish, a fish that maybe, just maybe hasn't been identified and so Amy will get to name it like those sciency things on the science channels talk so much about..."</p><p>Celicity's eyes narrowed, something telling her Felicity was smarter than she let herself be.</p><p>"... and I didn't even want to do this sciency thing but saying it's Pokémon isn't much better because I won't be able to go to the movies with my friends this summer, or any of the other things I wanted to do."</p><p>Amy looked at the ground. "My parents are likely worried about me."</p><p>"Well, at least they know where you are. My parents, they never pay attention to me."</p><p>Celicity watched Amy's facial features twist, almost as if those words bothered her. "Amy..."</p><p>"It's nothing sensei."</p><p>"Stop..."</p><p>"Let Amy be. It's better that everyone is in a good mood, so why do you have to keep ruining that for everyone? And maybe these aren't Pokémon, but it is far more enjoyable than thinking we're stranded where our parents won't be able to find us."</p><p>"You moron...."</p><p>"Look. I know either way we're stranded where parents may or may not find us, but we shouldn't give up hope regarding getting to go home. We'll find a way, but one of the first steps to defeat is self-defeat, is it not?"</p><p>"Sensei, I don't understand what that means."</p><p>"<em>And I don't know what this word sensei means Amy, yet you keep using it.</em>" Celicity smiled at the girls, trying her hardest not to be such a downer, yet red fish which may or may not be Pokémon and something that was either a Gyrados or whatever the Gyrados was based on most certainly didn't fix the problem they were currently in. "<em>It's either going back as a failure of a teacher because we ended up in the storm or in some foreign land where I'd be an even bigger mess up of a teacher because, from the sounds of it, two of the three girls in front of me would want to be training these Pokémon.</em></p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Providing Normality</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nobody knew who the two girls were. Oak and a few others in Pallet Town looked into missing person's reports yet found nothing regarding a boat with students lost out at sea. Feelers were put out looking for reports from other countries because Oak remembered Natalie saying Pokémon weren't called what they were where she was from – possibly – yet this bothered him, given how far away other countries which didn't use the term were.</p><p>Then, Chelsey insisted Pokémon weren't real – that they were a figment of some kind of game, almost as if they were from another world.</p><p>These girls – but everyone else on the ship they were from was in fact in a different world from their own, far more lost than Oak originally imagined, yet he found himself drinking a cup of tea, savoring the drink while watching the girls from the kitchen. He watched Chelsey's reaction differ from when she stormed out, how she became excited about seeing the Taros outside of the lab, yet she did something which upset Natalie which made him return to his desk, deciding to let Natalie and Chelsey direct the conversation.</p><p>Yet, not much conversation happened beyond him letting Natalie know, that no, there was still no word regarding the boat the girls were on. In the back of his mind, he worried about the others – their other classmates having not made it through the storm. The only thing he could do was make sure the two girls currently staying at his lab were okay, yet in the back of his mind, he didn't know what kind of future the girls would have, given the fact they were likely from another world.</p><p>Eventually, Chelsey came out of the room, no longer pouting from the fact Natalie didn't consider her a friend. She walked right over and batted her eyes at him. "Could I possibly become a trainer? A Pokémon trainer?"</p><p>"Well, it's not that simple."</p><p>"I was joking about Pokémon not being real. I was teasing Natalie for having not believed they were real before."</p><p>Oak thought over the girl's words, yet in his mind, they didn't make sense, given the fact Natalie's response wasn't that Pokémon were real, but that she didn't even know they existed. In fact, he would argue she definitely accepted the reality of Pokémon before Chelsey, who apparently knew what the word was. He scratched the back of his head. "I'm not so sure."</p><p>"Come on! You're the person who gives Pokémon away, right?"</p><p>"That's not what I do. My job is actually researching the Pokémon."</p><p>"But you're who people go to in order to get a Pokémon to start their Pokémon journey. I want to go on a Pokémon journey."</p><p>"Aren't you worried about what your parents will think?"</p><p>"Isn't it normal though for someone my age to go on a Pokémon journey?"</p><p>"Well, yes."</p><p>"Then I can go."</p><p>"It's not that simple, as I've already told you."</p><p>"Why is that?"</p><p>"We should wait and see if they find your friends."</p><p>"And what if they don't."</p><p>"Well, we'll figure out what happens next when the time comes." He watched her let out a breath of frustration. Something told him this girl was impatient. "I'm going to go back to my work now." He headed back to the desk, yet he found himself frustrated with the silence between the two. Letting out a sigh, he headed into the kitchen, packing lunch into a backpack before grabbing a couple of blank notebooks and pens from his desk, which he handed to each of the girls. "The two of you are going to help me with my research today."</p><p>"What?" Chelsey was obviously confused.</p><p>"We're going to go out and do fieldwork." He watched Natalie brighten up slightly, but Chelsey remained confused. "We're going to observe Pokémon."</p><p>"Sounds boring."</p><p>"Boring? But these Pokémon are amazing. They're different from the creatures I've seen and heard about so far."</p><p>Chelsey flinched at Natalie's words. "Yeah. Not boring. They are definitely amazing."</p><p>"Are you trying to make fun of me?"</p><p>"No, no I am definitely not making fun of you."</p><p>"Well, observation of Pokémon in the field is important to be a trainer." He, in fact, had both girls hooked but managed to keep them occupied – distracted from the fact the boat wasn't yet found, that they might not go home, or in the case of Chelsey, not be asking about becoming a Pokémon trainer. Eventually, the sun began to set and he found himself looking at their notebooks on the way back to the lab. Chelsey's notes were sparse, if not few, but Natalie possibly overdid her observation.</p><p>They arrived at the lab, and he started making dinner just as the stars started coming out From the small kitchen, he could hear Chesley talking Natalie's ear off while attempting to prepare dinner for the three of them, although the options were rather limited as the lab wasn't the place he lived. Chelsey still seemed convinced about becoming a Pokémon trainer, yet in the back of his mind he knew for other trainers, when he gave a Pokémon, he had parental permission. "<em>How do you communicate with another world.</em>"</p><p>He finished and started carrying the food out, setting it down on the coffee table when the phone rang. "One second." He headed over to the phone, picking it up. "This is Professor Oak speaking."</p><p>"<em>We wanted to let you know that we've managed to find the boat. We are working on bringing them to shore, though it might be late at night when this happens.</em>" He felt relieved.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Starlight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>How much longer? How much longer do we have to deal with this uncertainty regarding what the future holds?</em>"</p><p>She'd lost track of the time, would, in fact, need to get back on track somehow. The sun rose and set a number of times she'd honestly lost track. She knew the number amounted to a few days, but a few days could mean a different number of days. In the back of her mind, Cecily wondered why she didn't think of keeping track of such things sooner, given the fact she was supposed to be the teacher in charge of caring for the girls.</p><p>Regardless of the time, regardless of what she and the scientists on the boat attempted, the girls were becoming frustrated, the situation becoming tenser and tenser as time passed. All she ever wanted to be, was the best teacher she could be, yet she found herself not making the goals she wanted, at least feeling that way, not when the morale felt as if it kept sinking. She found herself thankful the boat wasn't sinking, although it might as well be, given the fact they were going nowhere, nor was there any sign of being rescued.</p><p>She found herself stowing the belongings of both Chelsey and Natalie in her own quarters, given the fact Felicity went into Natalie's things again. While there wasn't any interest at that point in the items in Chelsey's bag, she found herself suspecting Felicity wouldn't hold back if she thought there was something of interest there for her. Having to worry about one of her students stealing and not thinking it was stealing because the other girl was dead.</p><p>Amy, who started off super cheerful – was starting to falter in her cheerfulness. Felicity's comments didn't help, yet there was no way of doing anything which would stop the other girl from the name-calling. She felt like a failure, as it was obvious Felicity didn't respect her authority as a teacher, ignoring her every time she called her out for the way she treated Amy, though it did seem the comments were becoming less.</p><p>It possibly helped that Heather, the third girl still left on the boat made it quite clear she didn't care for Felicity's behavior, yet Celecity wasn't sure Felicity respected Heather either, given the fact there was a definite age gap. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she still wanted to think the best of her students, that they could turn out alright.</p><p>She wanted the girls washed overboard to be alright, yet in the back of her mind, she found herself sighing, sighing like she swore not to do. The voice in the back of her head kept telling her that they, on the boat, stood more chance of coming out of the scenario alive, given the fact they had quite a few supplies, yet these supplies – she didn't think she, the girls or the scientists could mentally handle living in such closer quarters with each other and might go mad long before their supplies ran out if they weren't rescued.</p><p>She tried taking solace in the salty sea breeze, and other small things, yet there was only so much she could do and not grow bored with the things going on. If she struggled with, then there was a chance the girls were going insane. She found herself looking up at the stars as they came out as the sunset, when she saw an aircraft above as if it were searching for them, something she expected from search and rescue. She waved her hand in the air, waving, speaking loudly as she waved at them, yet they didn't stop and went on by. She felt her throat tighten; her mind felt glad the girls were hopefully downstairs asleep.</p><p>"Wait? They're not rescuing us?"</p><p>She turned, seeing Felicity and the look of hurt on her face. "I don't know. I think they saw me. I hope they saw me." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm guessing you want to go home?"</p><p>"Not that it matters."</p><p>"You were saying you were looking forward to certain things, right? Such as joining your friends at the mall, doing things other than this trip? Sounds like you'll get to do that sooner than later, given the fact they'll likely bring us to shore, right?"</p><p>"Are we even in our world anymore?"</p><p>Celicity's eyes widened. "I thought you weren't in agreement with your peers on this?"</p><p>"Peers. They're not my peers, whatever that means."</p><p>"They're your classmates, right, for the next year."</p><p>"That is true."</p><p>"That means they are your peers. That is what the word means."</p><p>"You know that I don't want to listen to any lessons and stuff. I don't want to learn stuff. Learning stuff is boring, you know."</p><p>"You know, I don't agree with that."</p><p>"Of course, you wouldn't. You're a teacher." Felicity stormed away at that moment, her feet stomping on the stairs which led down below the deck to where the sleeping quarters for everyone was. Celicity turned back to looking at the sigh, expecting the other girls to come up, feeling that Felicity would blab about seeing the aircraft to the other girls. Yet, she didn't hear any of the girls come up, making her wonder why Felicity didn't blab to anyone regarding what she saw.</p><p>In the back of her head, she thought she was imagining it, as there seemed to be nobody else there who saw that, the one person having disappeared down below. It felt like a dream as much as the Gyrados – or what she was told was a Gyrados. That was until a bright light appeared, making the stars in the sky disappear, melt away into the darkness. She found herself covering her eyes, her eyes blinking away the bright light.</p><p>She then heard someone calling out, letting them know that the patrol for the area had sent a boat that would tow their boat to shore, as it seemed like the easiest method of dealing with the matter, given the fact the boat was still afloat. She felt relief – definite relief, but the madness she thought was setting in, perhaps it didn't exist.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Pit of Despair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She awoke to a change in the way the boat shifted in the water. Heather's eyes opened, her mind wondering what caused the change. The first thought which came to mind for her was thinking another storm came up, which bothered her greatly. Yet, the way the boat moved – she quickly realized it wasn't the same as before. She let out a groan, her eyes closing from lack of sleep, her mind wandering back into the realm of sleep. "<em>Maybe they got the motor running?</em>"</p><p>She didn't think much about the fact they might be returning to shore, beyond the fact she might possibly have a break from Felicity. It definitely bothered her, the way the girl treated others. Amy of course, she wasn't sure of, given the fact the girl felt – she couldn't place her thumb on it, but then a knock came at the door. She took a deep breath, getting up from the bed, aggravated someone woke her from her sleep.</p><p>She walked over, opening the door to find Amy there, a smile on her face despite the fact the smile which seemed perpetual at first started to fade as time wore on. "What?"</p><p>"They're rescuing us."</p><p>"What?" Heather's eyes blinked once, her mouth hanging open in surprise at hearing someone was rescuing them from the pit of despair. The fact she'd considered the place this – it felt strange, yet she wondered, given the fact she'd seen what looked like Magikarp, and the teacher and Amy saw a Gyrados if she'd really left the pit of despair. Taking a deep breath, she headed towards the deck, where she heard the motor from the boat tugging them.</p><p>Looking around, she saw the scientists along with Amy and their teacher up on deck, but Felicity was in fact nowhere in sight. She looked around for a bit, including at their tanks with the supposed Magickarp in them. She finally let out a sigh. "Hey teach?"</p><p>"Yes?"</p><p>"Where's Felicity?"</p><p>"I knocked on her door first, given the fact she was up here right before the boat arrived to tow us to shore, but she didn't believe me when I said that we were being rescued."</p><p>"What an idiot." Heather paused, lifting up her hands. "I didn't mean she was – is an idiot, just that she's acting like an idiot right now. Care to go with me Amy and convince her to come out?"</p><p>"I..." The other girl looked up, still smiling, but now Heather got a better look at the other girl's eyes and wondered if there was something worrying about the other girl. She brushed it aside when Amy said. "Yes," and they headed down below again. Amy was, in fact, the first to knock on the door of Amy – and Natalie's small cabin – what had been their living quarters the past few days. In Heather's mind, she was glad it was over. "Felicity?"</p><p>"Go away!"</p><p>"Oh, come on." Heather let out a sigh.</p><p>"I'm not going to believe no teacher's lies."</p><p>"But we really are being saved. I saw the boat up above."</p><p>"Then how come they passed us by before? They were up in the sky but didn't rescue us. Why not."</p><p>"Um, because they had to relay the location to the boat which would bring us into shore." Heather placed her hands on her hips. "Come on. My baby sister acts more mature than you do."</p><p>The door finally opened, but Felicity glared at Heather. "That is most definitely not true. I am actually very mature for my age – I've been told so..."</p><p>"By who?" Heather was honestly curious who'd told Felicity that her behavior was considered mature when she definitely saw the girl steal from Natalie's bag.</p><p>"Doesn't matter. I'm more mature than you and plus, I'm older than the two of you."</p><p>"You're not acting very mature, though." Amy pushed two of her fingers together, one from each hand, while looking at the ground nervously, expecting Felicity to possibly call her a name again. In fact...</p><p>Heather watched Felicity open her mouth, her eyes narrowing. "Don't. Don't call her a name, because that will just prove her right and you wrong. Plus, it's annoying." She pointed her thumb up towards the deck. "Why don't you come up on deck and see for yourself that we're being rescued, alright?"</p><p>"Its probably just an illusion, just like those Magikarp."</p><p>"You know when you say that..." Heather's words came out of her mouth without thinking, but then Felicity wasn't acting in what she considered a sensible manner. "It makes me think you actually believe those to be Magikarp."</p><p>"Fine. The whole Gyrados was an illusion."</p><p>"I know what I saw."</p><p>"Says the girl who hauls a Pikachu doll around with her like some major baby."</p><p>Amy's eyes blinked, her mouth opening. She definitely looked like she was going to cry. Heather folded her arms across her chest. "Really?" She shook her head. "Don't you know how to be nice? I get the fact our world's been turned upside down, but it wouldn't hurt you to be nice. Plus, you're not the one who saw the Gyrados, right? You saw the Magikarp that we agree might not be Magikarp, but it would be interesting if they were Pokémon. It's some kind of new discovery, the scientists said, which..."</p><p>"Which what?"</p><p>"Might get your name in the papers."</p><p>Felicity stared. "You mean I'd become famous."</p><p>"Well, fifteen minutes of fame kind of thing."</p><p>"I might get picked up by Hollywood."</p><p>"Yeah, I don't think that's how it works. I think you'd need to be in something like a play, but let's head on up the stairs, okay? So we can be on deck. Pack your things."</p><p>"I don't have my notebook with my story."</p><p>Amy spoke again, obviously just as baffled regarding Felicity's behavior. "That wasn't your notebook."</p><p>"Yes, it was."</p><p>"No, it belongs to Natalie and you didn't have her permission to use it."</p><p>"She's dead, so..."</p><p>"She's not dead." Amy's words were definitely not something Heather expected.</p><p>"You just want to believe that's true."</p><p>"No." Amy shook her head. "I asked." This was likely before Heather got upstairs, possibly when the teacher arrived at her door before Amy came to hers letting her know they'd been rescued. It felt like something Amy would ask. "They're the reason they're out looking for us."</p><p>"The reason?" Heather felt a bit worried regarding those words. There was no reason they wouldn't be out searching for them when everyone knew about the school trip. Something wasn't right, but thankfully, or perhaps not thankfully, Felicity brushed by her, heading onto the deck.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Miserable Dreck</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her current lot in life was a miserable dreck.</p><p>Or at least, what Felicity felt was a miserable dreck of a life.</p><p>After all, the teacher not only took away the story she was writing, but she also made her participate in boring activities with the other girls. Added to this, she found herself frustrated with how much Amy talked about Pokémon. Of course, it wasn't as if she disliked the topic in general – when of course she was online reading stories, seeing that adults were also into Pokémon, yet she didn't like Amy's childish prattle.</p><p>"<em>She's so childish.</em>"</p><p>Of course, she found her teacher rather childish as well, bringing up the fact she was looking forward to certain things even though she didn't remember telling her teacher such <em>private</em> things. The woman also removed Natalie's backpack from her cabin, meaning she couldn't use one of the other writing pads which were in the backpack, irritating her greatly as she was left with nothing to do but the teacher's <em>very</em> boring activities and wandering the deck at night.</p><p>That's when she saw the light from an aircraft up above, yet they weren't rescued from the miserable dreck she'd been living the last few days. She found herself frustrated, bored out of her mind. She tried using her phone, yet got no signal from the device, which wasn't surprising due to the fact she started losing signal long before she got onto the miserable boat in the first place.</p><p>A knock came at her door, yet she didn't want to talk to the teacher. "Go away."</p><p>"It's me, Amy."</p><p>Felicity let out a sigh while looking at the wall of her bunk, knowing Amy was someone she wanted to talk to even less than she wanted to talk to their teacher. "I said go away."</p><p>"I'm supposed to let you know that we're being rescued. The boat is being pulled in to shore. Well, I think I'm supposed to let you know."</p><p>"Go away. It's a lie." Yet, the boat was definitely being pulled into shore. "<em>Why then am I not happy</em>?" The answer came quickly. "<em>What if they're right? What if they're not...</em>" Her mind drifted to her story, swallowing, remembering how she'd started a story about her going on a Pokémon journey, finding exotic Pokémon, and getting to date the dream guy. She took a deep breath, feeling actually living the adventure was really different, nor was she sure she liked it.</p><p>She repeated the conversation when Heather showed up, wishing Amy hadn't gotten the other girl involved. She tried pulling a pillow over her head, nor did she appreciate the implication she was, in fact, the childish one. That was when she opened the door, hoping to prove she wasn't childish at all, yet they kept driving home the fact they didn't' feel she was as mature as she thought she was despite the fact they were definitely younger than her.</p><p>Then, somehow the direction of the conversation changed, a what-if regarding the situation. The what-if involved them not being in an alternative world but getting their names in the paper. She remembered talking with some of her older friends about how getting one's name in the paper would likely lead to someone in Hollywood noticing, yet she also found herself wondering if there was any truth to this.</p><p>She still held out her hopes regarding the fact they would return to a life where ultimately, they would return home, which may have been why she so easily bought into the whole thing. Yet, even she knew despite the fact she didn't consider herself very bright what Heather likely figured out from Amy's words, "<em>they're the reason they're out looking for us.</em>"</p><p>In the gut, she knew it meant they weren't found by people who should have been looking for them. She ignored it, stepping out onto the deck when she saw <em>it</em>.</p><p>There was a woman with hair which appeared to have a green undertone pulled into a ponytail, but she was dressed in a blue uniform with a short skirt and a cap which was flat at the top; the clothes seemed almost military, yet familiar – similar to the clothing the officers in the Pokémon series wore. The fact she <em>looked</em> like an Officer Jenny – that wasn't the most interesting thing.</p><p>No, it was something else that drew her attention.</p><p>The woman was accompanied by a canine-like creature with vivid red fur with black stripes. The red fur was accentuated with creamy fur on the stomach. The creature's tail was also adorned by this white fur, which was fluffier there and on the chest area, but the tail curled around on itself while remaining erect. The same fluffy whiteness topped the creature's head.</p><p>Felicity swallowed, recognizing the creature as something which definitely looked like a Growlithe. She knew the Pokémon was, in fact, a fire type, which – the idea of any creature having the power over fire was slightly frightening, but even more so was the fact they were in what appeared to be her worst nightmare – an alternative world from their own with no recourse in getting home, let alone having contact with everything she knew.</p><p>She tried blocking it out, putting on a fake smile as they headed up a path, through the dark. The path was lit by the stars, yet she found herself wishing anybody might say something which would tell her that what she saw in front of her wasn't real. Nobody said anything, beyond a few words, whispered between her teacher and the woman who looked like she could be an officer Jenny.</p><p>She didn't like walking, her feet hurting a great deal as she headed up the path, her anxiety growing steadily as they approached a place – a rather large building at the top of the hill. Every so often, she heard the sound of a creature which might, in fact, be a Pokémon, which helped build up her fears that they were no longer in their world, yet she heard nothing regarding their families.</p><p>The officer arrived at the door and knocked, the lights shining through the windows indicating someone was up despite the fact it was rather late at night. The woman who looked like Officer Jenny knocked on the door and an old man answered. "I brought them here as you wanted, Professor Oak."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Other Worries</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>How did she feel?</p><p>She honestly felt rather glad when Oak let them know the boat had been found, that the others would be brought to shore soon. Chelsey, of course, said she didn't care, going back to the way she was...</p><p>Natalie didn't understand how the girl could switch from being nice to being mean so easily, making her a difficult person to figure out, yet she wasn't sure she wanted to figure out the other girl. They sat there waiting, while Chelsey went on and on about her plans once they were found, as the other girl felt Professor Oak promised her a Pokémon of her own once everyone was found, yet Natalie was sure, having heard the conversation that no such thing occurred.</p><p>They were allowed to stay up late, waiting for the others to be brought up from the boat, yet in the back of her mind she wondered now how they would get back to their world, her first worry – the one worry at the forefront of her brain really, was now resolved and other worries, second worries, began cropping up, worries that had been there all along, such as how they would get home, how they would communicate with their parents.</p><p>"<em>Do I want to go home? Or do I want to learn more about these Pokémon.</em>" In the back of her mind, she hated the fact she wanted to learn more, yet she still struggled with placing whether she missed her parents yet. She'd not, in her mind, done anything which made her parents proud but spending so much time looking for the one thing which would make her stand out as different from her siblings.</p><p>Her siblings – she struggled in figuring out if she missed them as well, having only formed vague connections with them, being so much younger than them. In fact, she held only vague connections with anybody, finding herself so engrossed in her studies which – in the back of her mind she felt these studies were important, yet she didn't understand why beyond the fact her parents insisted this was so.</p><p>The fact she found herself drawn to the odd creatures, fascinated, excited – she found these feelings troubling.</p><p>She felt like a horrible, no good child. "<em>What is wrong with being happy about everyone being alive?</em>"</p><p>She glanced up every so often, hearing Chelsey keeping to her story of being the best trainer ever, yet otherwise not making any sense as her words included a lot of sound effects regarding some kind of make-believe battles going off in her head. Or at least, what Chelsey referred to battles.</p><p>"<em>Why do I want to stay? Is it because I'm missing something? I can't be missing something, right. I mean, I have a loving home, amazing parents, and siblings. I can't be missing anything.</em>" She glanced over at Professor Oak. "<em>But he's nice though. He let me wash the dishes even though I messed up. He did yell, but he was worried about me stepping on the shards."</em></p><p>A knock came at the door and Oak got up, setting down his cup of tea onto the table alongside Natalie's cup. Chelsey didn't want any of what the other girl called a foul-tasting adult drink, but the other girl's attention was also drawn to the door. He walked over, but they heard someone speaking at the door, or at least Natalie assumed Chelsey could hear what was being said at the door just like she could.</p><p>"I brought them here as you wanted, Professor Oak."</p><p>"Thank you, officer."</p><p>"There are three more girls, their teacher, and three scientists, making for a grand total of nine people who were on board, all accounted for." The woman saluted, while Natalie heard Chelsey mutter under her breath.</p><p>"It's an Officer Jenny."</p><p>Of course, referring to someone, anyone as that honestly didn't make sense to Natalie, who felt the person should simply be referred to as officer, nor was there any way that Chelsey could know the woman's name. She watched her teacher and the other three girls step in, her eyes drifting to the ground, feeling unsure of how to feel now that the three other girls who were just as much of a stranger as Chelsey were in front of her.</p><p>"<em>They're like her, right? I mean, the attend Gladstone Academy. There is a certain – I believe the word is hierarchy.</em>"</p><p>"No. You can't be Professor Oak. I mean, <em>the</em> Professor Oak." Girl number one seemed quite excited.</p><p>Girl number two seemed irritated at this yet said nothing. Natalie watched the man let out a sigh. "I'll see you later, officer."</p><p>"Mmm. Let me know if you need anything. I've got some things to do at my station. Some digging, so to say." She started to leave, when one of the girls – girl number three with the blonde hair, piped up.</p><p>"Wait? Pallet Town has a police station?"</p><p>"Well, sort of. My station actually serves this part of the county, so in reality, it serves a few of the towns in the area, plus the beach area. I was called in specifically for this purpose."</p><p>"Thank you again for finding us," their teacher said. Natalie tilted her head, wondering what the teacher was really like, given the fact she spent so little time with the woman. She seemed very much like a teacher, which in her book was a good thing. The Professor – he didn't act like how she expected a teacher to act.</p><p>The officer left and Professor Oak looked at the girls while the three scientists who were also strangers watched. "Well, why don't we get the girls to bed."</p><p>"What?" Chelsey started pouting. "I've already slept a lot, but this is exciting."</p><p>"I don't understand what's so exciting about ending up in an alternative word!" Girl number one pouted.</p><p>"Now you're actually admitting we're in an alternative world?" asked girl number two.</p><p>"No! Pokémon isn't real! This is some..."</p><p>"Oh, they're real." Chelsey stood up, puffing her chest out. "I knew from the beginning."</p><p>"No..."</p><p>"What would you know?"</p><p>"Hey. None of this." The teacher glared at Chelsey while Natalie hung her head, thinking she was part of the reason the teacher was getting mad.</p><p>"Well, Professor Oak promised me a Pokémon."</p><p>Professor Oak let out a sigh. "I said..."</p><p>"You know what. You girls should head onto bed, so us adults can talk."</p><p>"I'll get the sleeping bags."</p><p>"Wait. What about our stuff?" Girl number one glared at the teacher.</p><p>"Yeah. Our stuff." Chelsey did as well.</p><p>"The officer said she'll bring our stuff by in the morning."</p><p>"You mean Officer Jenny."</p><p>"Officer Jenny? Why are you calling her that?" Professor Oak gave Chelsey a strange look.</p><p>"Aren't all of the officers called Jenny."</p><p>"Well, no. I mean, I couldn't imagine the male officers being named that."</p><p>Natalie wasn't sure what was meant by all of that, but soon they found themselves up on the second floor out of earshot of the adults whispering, five sleeping bags in a row. The blonde-haired girl seemed excited, yet carried a strange yellow rabbit with red cheeks with her. The second girl seemed quite annoyed, while the other two settled in.</p><p>"Do you think I'll get to meet his grandson and marry him?" girl number one said.</p><p>"Seriously? That is what you're thinking about? I mean, our families are likely worried about us," said girl number two.</p><p>"I'm sure mine wouldn't want me back." The words came out of her mouth. The worse part was realizing what really bothered her – that there was no reason to go back because her parents wouldn't care about one extra child who never met their expectations.</p><p>"I'm sure that's not true."</p><p>"I..." Natalie found herself growing quiet. "It is. What about the rest of you?"</p><p>Girl number two said, "My mom..."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Teacher</h2></a>
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    <p>"Please tell me you didn't promise the girls a Pokémon."</p><p>In the back of her mind, she couldn't imagine a man would be that careless, yet she also couldn't remember a world where parents would let their children wander around doing what amounted to being an adults job, at least from what she'd picked up from the ramblings from Heather and Amy.</p><p>"I did not." Professor Oak. "I told her that we would discuss it when all of you were found, but I was hoping you'd explain to her it is important to see if there is a way back to your world first if not a way to communicate. The girls getting a Pokémon – that's contingent on all of that. On one side, getting you back is important, but on the other, it isn't as if you can't stand around doing nothing."</p><p>"Well, that's reasonable."</p><p>"Well, we're still not convinced these Pokémon are real," one scientist piped up.</p><p>"Oh, and is there anywhere in our world where Asian people use English names or there are creatures that actually look like these Pokémon. I've got a son who's into this Pokémon fad, and that was definitely a Pokémon, that dog which was with the officer. The cartoons call her Officer Jenny, but implies all of them look alike."</p><p>"I don't understand this whole English thing, let alone Asian. That's not really a thing here."</p><p>"Um." Celicity wasn't sure how to respond to that, but she did know, "The girls are my responsibility."</p><p>"I know." Oak took a deep breath. "Really. I am not going to try and hinder that. Ultimately, it is your decision what should happen as time progresses. That said..." The man took a sip of his tea while the scientists looked at the rather big books. She couldn't help but feel they had a definite interest in what was going on, though they should know that they needed to get back. "You really don't come from a world where there are any Pokémon?"</p><p>"I didn't know about them until this trip."</p><p>"Oh. That seems to be the same for Natalie. How do the others..."</p><p>"It's all part of this game or cartoon show the girls like, though to be honest, I don't follow what the girls are trying to tell me beyond the fact they're all gaga for this show. That actually includes Felicity who pretended she didn't. I..." Celicity frowned, remembering how she stole Natalie's notebook.</p><p>"Could we possibly look at these books? To convince our selves? I mean, I'm sure that they're your research?"</p><p>"Sort of. My research papers, those of others. Go ahead. It would be interesting to know how the academia varies form our world and yours."</p><p>Celicity's mouth twisted slightly, wondering if the scientists were really focused on hopefully getting home. "<em>They seem focused on this fantasy that turns out not to be so.</em>"</p><p>"Well, I find it curious, a world with no Pokémon. Our lives revolve around Pokémon." Oak took another drink of his tea. "What convinced you that they were real?"</p><p>"Well, Amy – she's the one carrying around what she called a Pikachu – she told me what we saw the night of the storm was a Gyrados. We also caught something the girls call Magikarp which are still on the boat."</p><p>"Ah. I can get them placed into Pokeball for the girls while they're here, although Magikarp aren't known for being very useful."</p><p>"One of the girls may have mentioned that or they may not have."</p><p>Oak let out a deep breath. "I'm going to be honest and say this is a completely new subject for me, yet I don't know how I would be able to help you return let alone communicate. It might involve one of the legendary Pokémon."</p><p>"Excuse... what?"</p><p>Oak took a deep breath. "It sounds like a Pokémon brought you to this world, so it sounds like a Pokémon will be needed to return you to where you came from."</p><p>"You mean the girls may have no choice but to become trainers? Professor Oak, we don't let our children have jobs at this young of an age."</p><p>"Well, becoming a trainer highly depends on where the trainer is from, but what also matters is if one of the sponsors is under the belief that the children are in fact ready. I'm not sure Chelsey is ready."</p><p>"But if you gave one..."</p><p>"Maybe. I follow you in that it would likely cause more problems if one or more of the girls got left out. I'd want to make sure the girls had some basic skills before heading out, so I guess that's what you – and I'll help as I need it – will focus on while we see if there isn't anything which might help you get back." Oak looked over at the scientists. "Are you convinced that you're in another world yet?"</p><p>"This is amazing."</p><p>"Amazing? You say that because you don't have a family, but is anyone going to believe Professor Oak when it comes to – well, finding a way for us to go back?"</p><p>"Effectively, you're saying that we're stuck here."</p><p>Celicity decided they – all nine of them – definitely needed to prepare for whether or not the girls would be stuck there. She felt like a failure as a teacher yet didn't know if the girls would listen to her regarding the course of action they decided to take. After all, Felicity didn't want to listen to her at all when they were on the boat. Even if they didn't get the opportunity to go home right away, there was always a chance of it in the future, so there would be the question of whether she handled things well. She took a deep breath, knowing she would need to talk to them in the morning.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Unresolved Regrets</h2></a>
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    <p>"<em>What should I do?</em>" For a while, Amy lay awake after whispering to her Pikachu toy about how they'd met Professor Oak, but they might actually get to meet a real Pikachu, among other things, her voice finally giving out as her mouth became tired. It still lingered in the back of her head the fact she'd done wrong by forging her parent's signatures, which only made her hug her Pikachu even more. "<em>What am I to do? They aren't going to be looking for me? I mean, they didn't even know I was on the trip.</em>"</p><p>Eventually, she fell asleep to the snores coming from Heather but awoke when their teacher announced Oak had made breakfast. When she arrived downstairs, she looked around for the scientists. "Where are those scientist people?"</p><p>"They're doing errands for Professor Oak. It isn't as if there is much more to do."</p><p>"So, when do we get our Pokémon?" Chelsey poked her rice porridge in irritation. Apparently, she didn't like the dish, but she stared at the fish prepared for their meal as well.</p><p>"Professor Oak never said he would give anybody a Pokémon."</p><p>"That's not..."</p><p>"Plus, it's not appropriate for any of you to have a Pokémon before you're ready. There would need to be some ground rules, but I think it is even more important to note that our number one goal is getting home, if at all possible."</p><p>"Thank goodness." Heather breathed a sigh of relief. "My mom needs me."</p><p>"<em>So that's what she wanted to say last night – that her mother needs her.</em>"</p><p>"Don't care."</p><p>"Wait. You..." Heather turned to look at Felicity. "You were dead set against being here."</p><p>"I might marry well."</p><p>"You're..." Heather took a deep breath. "You're acting like an idiot."</p><p>"There's nothing wrong with taking a healthy interest in guys."</p><p>"I'm not sure it's healthy."</p><p>"Girls."</p><p>"I want to talk about if we do get to have Pokémon."</p><p>"Well, Professor Oak is convinced there are things you need to know before you leave on this so-called Pokémon journey and I agree with him. Yes, that means lessons Felicity, Chelsey."</p><p>"Why. I just want a Pokémon."</p><p>"How are you going to take care of yourselves?"</p><p>"Easy. I'm going to beat everybody I battle and earn a ton of money, but the Pokecenter's are free to use."</p><p>"You're missing the point." Heather let out a sigh. "It's quite a bit of a walk between some of these cities and might take us a few days. We need to know how to cook, pitch a tent, basic first aide."</p><p>"I'm sure I can manage."</p><p>"Well, if we decide this is the path, none of you are going unless you can pass the test. Think of me as your teacher in all subjects and Professor Oak as your principle. We've got the ultimate say so, but I am definitely going to defer to Oak in regard to what skills you girls need. As I said though, the focus is on us getting home."</p><p>"Are they even going to be looking for us?" Natalie set her hands into her lap.</p><p>"Why would you think that?"</p><p>"Because my parents wouldn't care."</p><p>"Now, why would you think that Natalie."</p><p>"Because I've not done anything amazing like my siblings."</p><p>"Well, I'm sure at least one person is looking for one of you girls, which means all of us will be found because of that, particularly when we were all noted in being together. Now, your girl's first assignment is to do two things. The first thing I want you to do is to write a letter to your parents in case something happens to you before we get home."</p><p>"You're mean!" Chelsey stood up. "If something is going to happen to anybody, it is going to be Heather! I'm going to be an amazing trainer."</p><p>"It's a worst-case scenario thing, but will help you girls work out how you're <em>really</em> feeling about all of this." The teacher looked at the five girls. "I also want you, girls, to brainstorm what you think you will need to know if you were to go on a journey."</p><p>"I thought the main focus..."</p><p>"It is Heather."</p><p>"See, she's a coward and wants to go home."</p><p>"I told you, my mom needs me."</p><p>"Anyways, I'll go and get some paper. Why don't you girls go and get some fresh air once you finished eating."</p><p>"I'm done." Chesley got up and hurried for the front door.</p><p>"Hold it! You haven't eaten anything."</p><p>"Who cares! The food stinks!"</p><p>Amy ate a few more bites, then looked her teacher in the eye. "May I finish this later. I'm full."</p><p>"Yes, you may Amy."</p><p>She slipped from the chair, heading to the outside. She saw a Tauros in the field but watched Chelsey let out a squeal. She walked over to the fence and turned so she might lean against the fence while still clutching her Pikachu toy. "<em>What do I want to say to my parents in a letter? Would they be happy hearing me apologize for signing their names? I didn't mean to do anything bad.</em>"</p><p>Heather let out a sigh, making her look up and realize the girl was there. "You're having issues thinking of what to put in your letter as well?"</p><p>"Well, yes."</p><p>"I'm not a coward. My mom really does need me. She works very hard taking care of us kids, so I shouldn't be here goofing off. I mean, I get it's every kid whose into Pokémon's dream come true, but you'd think that there are more important things than silly dreams.</p><p>Amy's eyes widened. "<em>Was my dream of doing something fun a silly dream?</em>"</p><p>"The teacher's doing her best though, I guess. I mean, we don't know how to get back, but just our luck it's going to be one of those things where we have to go and capture a legendary Pokémon just so that we can get home because they help us, but I don't know if we'll be able to do that given the attitudes of Chelsey and Felicity."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"It will require someone pure of heart, I guess if my theories right. That's how all the stories work, right? I guess that would mean it's you, right?"</p><p>"I'm not pure! I'm a very bad girl!"</p><p>"Sure you are Amy." Heather ruffled the top of Amy's head before walking away.</p><p>"<em>Like a story? This is real life, not a story. Maybe sensei will figure out something. That's the miracle I want to believe in.</em>"</p><p> </p>
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